Promises
by Marika Webster
Summary: Fifteen years have passed since Megan entered Quatre and Trowa's lives. Now with her 18th birthday, Wufei is honor-bound to keep the promise he made to her all those years ago. Rating for language, mature themes. Sequel to Small Packages. Complete!
1. Sugar and Spice

A/N- This story was completed in record time for me and is entirely finished. I'm feeling generous so the first three chapters are going up all at once. Remember, we heart reviews, they are the food of my inspiration! Special Thankies go to everyone who demanded a sequel and I hope this lives up to what you all have come to expect from me. :) Happy reading.

This chapter is dedicated to Nemkess. Fancy meeting you here!

Disclaimer- Not mine, don't sue, got nothing. Turtle Schnoff!

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Promises  
Prologue  
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Megan cursed as she stopped the pottery wheel. Her bowl, the required project for her class final, collapsed as though on cue. She resisted the urge to groan aloud and instead reached forward and punched the clay into something vaguely resembling a ball once more. She lifted the heavy mass and rose from her seat. She crossed the room to her designated worktable and sighed.

"You know it would be a lot easier if you would just relax. Stop trying to make it so perfect." Alex winced as Megan dropped the clay unceremoniously in an unrecognizable lump onto the table.

Megan shook her head and vigorously began working at the clay once more. "If I don't get an D on this project my fathers will flip out. It means I'll only get a C in the class. They just don't understand how they could have raised a child who could possibly fail pottery not once, but twice. I tried to explain that the teacher doesn't grade on creativity or effort… but noooo." She eyed her friend wearily. "How's your mom?"

"Much better, thanks for asking." Alex adjusted his seat on the stool, jade eyes focused on the clay-covered plastic spoon he was using to imprint swirls into his pot with. "She just finished her last round of chemo and her hair is starting to come back in already."

"That's good." Megan paused, regarding her clay. "Maybe I'll just make it a sculpture. I can call it 'Ball of Clay'."

Alex snorted. "Good try. I'm sure Professor Sonier will be as impressed as she was with last week's 'square of clay'."

Megan reached for the saran wrap and ripped off a long section. "I'm done for today. I have to go home and get changed. You're coming to the party, right?"

"Wouldn't miss it. I'll be there along with all the other social rejects." Alex chuckled dryly.

Megan released a laugh as she placed the abused clay on the storage shelf and moved to the sink to wash up. "Good. We'll be miserable and unpopular together."

It didn't hurt her feelings to know that Alex was dead on. She'd bonded with the odd young man her first day of classes 4 years ago. It had taken 6 months of begging and pleading to talk her parents into letting her accept NYU's offer of early admission into their liberal arts program. They'd been adamant that she deserved to experience a regular high school atmosphere instead of skipping straight from the Montessori program she'd been in her entire life. She'd argued right back that the entire purpose of the self-paced program was to let her go at her own rate, even if it meant leaving the other children in the proverbial dust. Her crowning argument had been that she'd never have regular high school experience given who her parents and extended family were. They'd crumbled soon after that statement. After all, having the ESUN President for your aunt and the CEO of the largest corporation in existence for a father didn't exactly lend itself to a normal childhood.

Alex had been one of the other students also in the accelerated program at the University. They'd both been wide-eyed and slightly out of place amongst the "prodigies" as they'd come to call their classmates. They were the oldest of the bunch, at the ripe age of 14, being only 3 months apart. In Alex she'd found her first real friend that wasn't a cousin or other relative. They'd experienced all the things other kids did together. Their first driving lessons, their first fender bender (Megan's fault) their first marijuana induced high (Alex's idea) and their first date. It had been after that fateful date that Megan had sadly shook her head and Alex nodded in agreement. He'd announced a few weeks later that he'd figured out why there was no chemistry there.

Megan still chuckled at the memory of her very preppy, very nerdy best friend nervously declaring that he was gay. He'd been so scared, so afraid of rejection from the rest of their oddball friends that Megan had laughed out loud, inadvertently hurting his feelings. When she'd explained the ridiculousness of it all, he'd been suitably pissed. That had been their first disagreement, but not their last. Now it was the week before graduation. She and Alex both, were slated to graduate with their BAs, that was if she passed pottery.

Her cell phone vibrated in her overall's pocket, sharply bringing her back to reality. She quickly dried her hands on a clean towel and shut off the alarm mode. "I have to go. My uncle's picking me up. He's taking me shopping for a dress."

"You're not very good at being a girl, you know that right?" Alex snickered. "Any other proper young woman would have had her dress weeks ago."

"Yeah, but any other girl doesn't have 5 gay men who think their God's gift to fashion trying to dress them either." She retorted dryly as she grabbed the beat up leather satchel and slung it over her shoulder. She waved cheerfully and sprint to the staircase, hoping Duo wasn't later than the usual 10 minute lag she'd made accommodations for. The rest of the world ran on Greenwich standard time… Duo ran on a different clock, one the family had aptly named "Duo-time". Duo-time was consistently 10 minutes later than regular time, on a good day.

As she flew out the front door of the arts building, her uncle peeled into the parking lot. She flinched as he narrowly missed hitting a pedestrian crossing the parking lot. "Flair and abandon." She muttered beneath her breath as the vintage mustang screeched to a halt in front of her. She approached the car and steeled herself for what would obviously be a ride to remember. But then, riding with Duo always had it's risks. A small part of her wished she'd insisted on driving her own car and meeting him at Hilde's shop.

"Hey, Meggie." Duo greeted happily, reaching over to turn the stereo down to an acceptable level. He adjusted the hearing aid in his right ear to a higher volume. "How was school?"

"You know, I'm absolutely astonished you're not completely deaf after 35 years of listening to music as that volume, Duo." She ignored his question and tugged at his braid pointedly.

He shrugged good-naturedly. "I'm 33." He retorted promptly. "Hardly an old man. And I wish you wouldn't nag, you're worse than Heero."

"Well he has a point. Both of us do actually." She pointed out.

He snickered. "You are relentless aren't you? Fasten your seatbelt, we're gonna be late as it is."

Megan bit back a comment on his sense of timing and obediently buckled herself in. He punched the clutch and set the car into gear. "Heero got called out of town on a mission, so he's not going to be able to make it to the party. He said to tell you he's very sorry. He also sent you that." Duo pointed to an envelope taped the dashboard.

She fought back the rising disappointment at the idea that her uncle would miss the party. It wasn't everyday a girl turned 18, but still, she'd learned not to complain about it. Saving the world was a job that had to be done, even if it did involve lousy scheduling conflicts. Tucked inside the card, simply signed with the initial H M-Y, was a check. She smiled a little at the silly message on the card. "You helped pick out the card, didn't you?"

Duo glanced over to her, his expression guilty. "Cupcake, it's not your fault that Heero doesn't remember dates very well." His voice was soft. "He doesn't even remember our anniversary and we've been married for 10 years. He did good to remember your age. He's just not as detail oriented as he used to be." Megan returned the smile. "It's okay. I'm glad you helped him remember. It's a sweet gesture."

Duo cleared his throat. "Did I tell you what Ben did yesterday?"

He was referring to his and Heero's youngest son, 5 year old Benjamin. Megan could tell he was uncomfortable with the subject of his spouse's unintentional slight and wanted to change the subject. She decided to have pity on him, just this once. "No… tell me."

He launched into a recitation of the latest in "The Maxwell-Yuy Adventures in Parenting." Megan simply sat and listened with half an ear, allowing her mind to wander as she stared at her uncle profile. It was easy to get lost in his story-telling, but something completely unrelated to the tale was niggling at the back of her mind. Something that had been bothering her in increasing degrees through out the day. The nervousness in the pit of her stomach had a name. It always had. Wufei.

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Quatre cleared his throat as he watched the staircase. Beside him, Trowa was involved in deep conversation with Sally and Dorothy. He surreptitiously glanced at his watch. Megan should be appearing any minute. As if on cue, his oldest daughter appeared at the top of the staircase. His heart leapt into his throat at the sight of her, as it always did these days. It was so hard to imagine that so many years had passed since the first time he'd laid eyes on her. She'd been so small, so heartbreakingly lost and so very sad. Now, she radiated with calm self-assurance. He elbowed Trowa sharply in the ribs.

His husband grunted in protest to the rough move and turned to see what the fuss was about. Quatre's heart fluttered in response to the surge of pride that Trowa instantly felt. The blond man's hand automatically went to his heart, rubbing it reflexively when that pride was replaced with a flush of surprise when he realized what their child was wearing. Beside him, Trowa stiffened. Quatre's eyes drifted to his husband's form. His expression had darkened visibly. Quatre bit back a chuckle. Trowa pasted on a tight smile and muttered for Quatre's ears only. "What the hell is that?"

Quatre rested a restraining hand on Trowa's arm. "That, my love, is a young woman."

Trowa cast a glare at him and snorted, mimicking his tone perfectly. "No, that, dearest, is what will cause Duo Maxwell great bodily harm. Every male in the room is staring."

"Yes, Trowa. They are. Because she's beautiful, not because of her dress." Quatre's thumb stroked the spot just inside Trowa's elbow. His lover's weak spot. Trowa sighed heavily, relaxing instantly. Quatre turned his gaze back to Megan, who'd reached the bottom of the steps. The dress, he reflected, really wasn't anything out of the ordinary. It was a bright red, as befitted their daughter's vibrant personality, and cut modestly, revealing nothing to the naked eyes, but clinging in all the right places. All in all, she looked lovely. Hilde had done as good a job as usual. Quatre silently thanked Allah that the woman had found a passion in the unexpected of fashion design, and that she would accept a bribe every now and then to alter a neckline or hemline here and there.

Quatre's heart quickened. His breath caught in his throat and he immediately realized that the calm Megan had felt was now shattered. It was replaced by a familiar ache and nervousness. His sought her out across the room, his eyes confirming what his heart already knew. Wufei was near his daughter. He swallowed hard and slipped his free hand into his pocket fisting it tightly within the confines of his slacks. Trowa, luckily didn't notice. If he had, he'd have known immediately the unease in Quatre's expression.

The taller man didn't turn from his conversation, instead speaking earnestly about some subject or other. Quatre fought back a wave of worry and disappointment. Megan caught his eyes and smiled brilliantly, obviously not noticing his frown either. He mustered a weak smile in return and winked at her. His gaze traveled from Megan, who'd turned back to her group of friends, to Wufei who was nursing a glass of champagne and speaking to Milliardo and Relena. The hand that held the champagne was unadorned, but his right hand, the one that was relaxed at his side… there as usual on his ring finger was the thin braided band he'd been wearing for 13 years.

Quatre distinctly remember the day they'd decided to keep Megan, it had been the same day Wufei had returned their daughter to them bearing more packages than any child had a use for, and on a chain around her neck, she'd had a matching band. He'd been just short of livid. Trowa had managed to calm him with the rationale that the future was a long way off and Megan wouldn't remember something so silly when she was older. It would fade into the promise made by an indulgent uncle to a favored niece.

But she hadn't forgotten. Neither had Wufei forgotten his promise to wear the ring either. Whenever Quatre had seen the Chinese man from that day onward, he'd always worn the ring, unobtrusively on the same finger, never removing it. When Quatre had questioned him about it a few years after the fact, Wufei had steadfastly refused to remove it, flatly telling Quatre that he always honored his promises.

Now, 13 years later, Quatre was once again reminded of the foolish promise his friend had made on an indulgent whim. Surely Megan had forgotten by now, hadn't she? He relaxed a little, chuckling to himself as he remembered the relief he'd felt when she'd asked permission to go on her first date. He'd been so relieved that she'd stopped fixating on Wufei and he'd prayed earnestly that she'd fall in love, really fall in love, with Alex. Then when she'd gone through her experimental phase and dated a girl, he'd prayed she'd be a lesbian, all the while feeling guilty for wanting to impose his own wishes on the daughter he loved more than life itself. After all, sexuality wasn't a choice, it was instinctive. But Allah how relieved he'd been when she'd announced her date for the spring dance at NYU was a girl from her class named Cynthia.

That hadn't lasted more than a month either. As Quatre recalled, Megan was at 16, as much a bundle of hormones as he himself had been. After a while, he'd contented himself with being grateful she hadn't turned up drunk or Allah-forbid, pregnant. As far as he knew she'd confined her sexual experimentation to a few stolen kisses, interrupted when he and Trowa flashed the porch light at inopportune times.

He supposed though, that overall they'd done a good job with her. There had been a few scary moments as there were with any child, but nothing really horrible. She was happy healthy… and as of tonight, an adult. He'd resigned himself to letting go eventually. But now faced with the reality of it, why was it breaking his heart?

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Wufei caught Quatre's eye and smiled, giving a relaxed wave. The other man made his way over touching his arm lightly. "Wufei, may I have a word alone with you? It will only take a moment."

The Chinese man nodded. "Of course." He excused himself from his conversation with the Peacecraft siblings and followed Quatre to one of the anterooms off the ballroom. His curiosity was piqued when Quatre quietly closed the doors to the room, effectively assuring them privacy. His brow wrinkled. "What did you want to speak to me about?"

Quatre regarded him quietly for a moment, then slipped his hands in his pocket and smiled benignly. Wufei's frown deepened. He knew that expression. It was Quatre entering strategy mode. "Tell me something, Wufei, and please be honest because you know I'll know if you're lying."

"Of course." Wufei sternly reminded himself not to be offended by the implication that after almost 20 years of friendship, he'd be anything but honest with Quatre.

"Do you remember why you wear that ring?" Quatre's words were pointed, quiet.

Understanding dawned on Wufei. He chuckled and smiled wryly. "That's what was so important?"

"Just answer the question, Wufei." Quatre's tone brooked no argument.

Wufei sobered instantly. "Yes, of course I remember. I made Megan a promise."

"Exactly, and I want to know what your intentions are." His friend did not hesitate.

Wufei drew in a deep breath. "My intentions, Quatre, are to keep my promise. I will ask Megan out for dinner, she'll refuse and I'll be absolved from any further responsibility. My promise will have been honored and I'll be free to remove the ring."

Again, the blond did not give a moment's pause before hissing in apparent annoyance. "You really think she'll refuse you?"

It was official, Wufei was confused. He frowned again. "Of course she will. I'm old enough to be her father, not to mention she's got too much other stuff going on right now to have time for it."

Quatre seemed to relax a little. His tone was not as sharp as he questioned hopefully, "She is really busy with finals and graduation coming up, isn't she?"

"Yes. And you know the Megan is nothing if not focused on getting her degree and collaborating on her project with Trowa. She's not a foolish child anymore, she's a determined young woman and I don't believe she'd do anything to distract herself from her goals." Wufei concluded logically. "Now will you please just relax and enjoy your daughter's celebration. It's not everyday your child turns 18."

The blond man nodded minutely. "I do need to ask you one last thing."

"What?" Wufei slipped his hands in his pockets and waited patiently for Quatre to continue.

"Why didn't you ever marry Sally?"

"You're joking right?" He laughed, amused by Quatre's obvious unease. The other man appeared perturbed by this. Wufei coughed carefully. "For being such a smart person, Winner, sometime you amaze me with your ability to miss the obvious. Sally and Dorothy have been seeing each other on and off for the last 4 years. I haven't gotten married because my first experience was a disaster and personally it's one I don't care to repeat. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to rejoin the party and our friends. I do hope you'll join us." He nodded curtly and left the room, leaving Quatre to stare after him in open shock.


	2. Promises Kept

A/N- 3:45 am... and instead of sleeping, I'm uploading chapter after chapter for my loyal readers. You should feel special. Kudos to my muse, Calliope for this chapter. It was truly a rough one to write. I have never had so much fun writing Wufei as I have in this chapter. Next chapter, we get to see his dark side emerge... hehehe. And again, reviews make us happy, so please feed the machine appropriately and press the button!

Specials thankies this Chapter to SC-sama, for being the trooper she is while listening to me babble about the most random of things during a very hectic time in her life.

Disclaimers-Turtle schnoff and pickles on rye.

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Promises Made  
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Megan groaned and threw a hand over her eyes as the early morning light coaxed her into full wakefulness. The full gravity of what day it was hit her as she pushed herself into a seated position. She sighed heavily. Her graduation had been the previous day. She'd passed pottery by the skin of her teeth, earning a D for the course. She'd been immensely proud of her D. Her fathers had been satisfied as well. Her final project, a bowl that resembled a lopsided disk more than anything, was now proudly displayed in the china cabinet in the formal dining room.

It was officially her first day of adulthood. It was rather a scary thought. She rose from her bed and padded barefoot into the bathroom, grabbing the clothes she'd laid out the night before from the armchair next to the TV armoire. Fifteen minutes later she was showered and dressed and entering the kitchen. One of her fathers sat reading the paper as he had every morning for as long as she could remember. Quatre always waited for her to eat breakfast. Trowa however, preferred to sleep late, not being a morning person.

"Morning, Babu." She paused to kiss her Quatre affectionately on the cheek.

He folded his paper and smiled at her gently. "Good morning, Meggie. How does it feel to be all grown up?"

She laughed softly as she reached for the carafe of coffee and poured herself a mug of the steaming hot Turkish brew. "I feel exactly the same as I have every morning since I can remember."

"What's on the agenda for today?" He slipped his glasses off his nose and folded them, tucking them into the breast pocket of his suit jacket.

Megan took a sip of her coffee before answering. "I'm going to meet Heero for boxing at 9 and then I thought I might come to the office and have lunch with you if you think you can squeeze me in." She spoke hopefully. Lunch with Quatre was a regular occurrence when she had free time, one that she looked forward to without fail.

He nodded happily. "That would be nice. Thai sound okay?"

"Yes, Sir. Especially since you're the only person who will eat it with me." Thai food was an indulgence only her Babu shared with her. A guilty secret he himself had only disclosed to her when she'd turned 16, was having a weakness for a certain spicy pork dish.

"Master Quatre, I'm terribly sorry to interrupt, but there's a call for you from Tokyo. They say it's urgent."

Quatre groaned aloud and tossed his abandoned newspaper aside. "Yes, thank you Margie. I'll take it in my study." He rose from his seat and kissed Megan on the cheek gently. "I'll see you at one sharp. Have a good day sweetheart."

"You too, Babu. I love you." Megan sighed heavily.

Margie tapped her on the shoulder. "There's also a call for you, Miss. Master Chang on your private line. He said he would hold."

"Did he say what it was concerning?" Megan's heart caught in her chest as it always did. It was Monday, Wufei's weekly call to check in on her wasn't until Wednesday. Something must be wrong. Worry rose through her.

"He didn't say, Miss. Should I ask him to call back after you've finished breakfast?"

Megan quickly shook her head. "No. I'll pick up in my own study." She rocketed from her seat, leaving her still hot coffee behind without a second thought. The run up the back stairs to her home office seemed to take much longer than the 11 seconds she knew it to take.

She dropped into the leather chair behind the antique mahogany desk that had belonged to her mother and punched the button to activate the vid-phone. Wufei's face filled the screen, his expression relaxed, giving the impression that nothing was wrong. This only served to confuse her more. "Wufei? I'm sorry it took so long to answer. I was having coffee with Babu. What's wrong?"

"Wrong?" He blinked in apparent confusion. "Nothing's wrong."

Megan stared, now completely lost. "Well then, what can I help you with?"

"Dinner." He stated without preamble. "I've been meaning to call for the last week, but I got busy with a case at work. As I recall, I made a promise that I have yet to fulfill."

Instantly she knew what he was referring to. Her heart stopped for a split moment, her breath catching. This was it. It was her chance. She'd always known Wufei was a man of his word, but now when faced with the reality of it, she was stunned. "Dinner?" She repeated dumbly.

He nodded, amusement passing briefly over those handsome features. "Yes. I owe you dinner."

She stared at him, lost for a moment in those obsidian eyes. His face remained unlined, giving him an appearance far younger than his years. But then, perhaps she was biased. After all, she'd been in love with the man since she was 5 years old. "Dinner sounds great."

He appeared surprised for the briefest of moments, the smiled wryly. "When are you free?"

Megan reached for her planner and flipped it open to that week's to do list. Her week was suspiciously clear. Vaguely she wondered if her sub-conscience had instigated the free time. "I'm free tonight, Wednesday and Thursday. How does your week look?"

He glanced down for a moment, obviously checking his own calendar. "I have a business trip Wednesday. I'll be gone until the end of the week. Will tonight work for you or is the notice too short?"

"That's fine." Megan fought to keep her voice level, but it felt like her heart was trying to pound it's way free of her chest. "What time should I meet you and where?"

Wufei's laugh was clear. "I promised you a real date, didn't I? I'll pick you up at 7."

"Okay. Casual?"

"Evening casual." He corrected as he smiled affectionately.

Megan nodded and laced her fingers together to keep from fidgeting. "I'll be ready at 7. I'll see you tonight, Wufei."

"Tonight then." Wufei gave a cheerful wave as he signed off.

Megan disconnected from her end and waited for the screen to go black before she squealed in excitement and bounced in her seat. It was her chance! Her chance to make him see her for a woman and not a child… "I've got to go shopping. I have nothing to wear." She bolted from her seat and headed for her room once more. She suddenly had a full day and not nearly enough time to accomplish it all.

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Wufei stared at the phone vaguely wondering what the hell had just happened. He'd certainly not expected Megan to say yes to dinner. He'd fully expected her to recoil in disgust or at least laugh it off. He'd definitely not expected her to appear surprised and then pleased. His forehead creased in a frown. It didn't make any sense. He'd made a promise to a five year old. He'd fulfilled the promise with the invitation. She wasn't supposed to accept it. But she had, and he was honor bound to follow through. He resisted the urge to bash his head on his desk. "Quatre's going to kill me." He settled for groaning aloud and burying his face in his hands. If Quatre was going to be upset, then Trowa would be out for blood.

It was too much like incest for his liking. Megan was barely more than a child. No, he mentally corrected himself, she wasn't a child. But she was very young. Granted he'd been married and widowed, fought in two wars, and started his career by the time he was her age. And yes, she had completed her education and had a good start in life, but she was just starting out. She was his niece for crying out loud. "Too much like incest." He muttered to himself as he reached for the battered coffee cup on the corner of his desk and drained it in one long draught.

He sighed heavily gave in to the urge he'd been fighting. He set the coffee cup aside carefully and let his head fall heavily to the metal surface of the desk. "What the hell have I done, Nataku?"

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Trowa glanced up from the book he was reading to regard the whirlwind that was his oldest child as she flitted into the room. She stood before him, her expression apprehensive. "Well?"

He blinked. "Well what?"

"Do I look all right?" She pressed him impatiently.

He took in her appearance and nodded slightly. "You look lovely. But maybe you should wear a sweater."

"Papa, it's 80 degrees outside." She frowned.

"I know. But you're wearing spaghetti straps and you don't get that dressed up unless you have a date. I don't want you exposing yourself to strange young men, so I'd prefer it if you'd wear a sweater."

"It's not spaghetti straps, Papa." Megan rolled her eyes.

Trowa knew it wasn't exactly a spaghetti strap dress, but it was sleeveless. The black dress was cut to her petite figure, ending just above the knee. She wore a pair of sling back kitten heels, an impossibly tiny black bag dangling from one wrist. "You look beautiful, Kitten." Quatre's voice interrupted Trowa's thoughts. "Your Papa's just being overprotective as always. There's nothing wrong with your dress."

Trowa frowned, knowing his spouse was right. "Babu's right. I wouldn't be happy with men looking at you even if you were dressed in a sackcloth and full hood." What he didn't say aloud, was that no man should be looking at his child in that way. Ever. If he'd had it his way, she'd never have started dating. Ever. Nor would she have worn make up for the first time. Ever.

Quatre perched himself on the arm of the chair Trowa occupied and stroked Trowa's shoulder soothingly. "You're awfully excited about tonight. Who's your date with? He is of course coming in to meet your parents, right?"

Trowa silently thanked his lucky stars that though Quatre was far more reasonable concerning their daughter's freedom to have her own life than he was, his spouse was still adamant about manners. Megan had always been conscientious about introducing her dates to them, and responsible about curfews. When she was 17, they'd agreed that as long as she let them know where she was and who she was with, a curfew wasn't really necessary. Only a week earlier, they'd negotiated around the delicate subject of allowing her the freedom she desired to come and go.

Good girl that she was, she hadn't even threatened to move out when she'd blatantly informed them that she was an adult with a college degree, her own money and her own car and she would pay rent in exchange for the ability to have complete freedom. Trowa and Quatre had agreed, though not without certain stipulations, one of those being that she could have no overnight guests of the opposite sex without clearance from them. It was an odd sensation. Trying to view Megan as an adult and not a child to shelter and protect anymore. But then that desire to smother her had never fully gone away.

"You don't really need to meet my date. But yes, he's coming to pick me and seeing as how you already know him I don't think you'll have a problem with him." Megan's grey eyes sparkled mischievously. "He's a perfect gentleman, handsome and smart. And he's also very responsible."

Beside him, Quatre's eyes narrowed marginally, though his tone was gentle. "Really? Who?"

Trowa felt distinctly like he was missing something. He'd have to ask Quatre about it later. That mental note was suddenly moot as he heard Megan say the name. "Wufei."

Silence permeated the room for a tense moment. Megan was oblivious, Quatre quietly radiating rage, and Trowa… well he was just lost. Why would Megan be dressed up for dinner with Wufei? And why would she be calling it a date? "Quatre? Megsie? Care to enlighten a decrepit old man as to what I'm missing here?" He ventured quietly.

Megan grinned happily. "Wufei called this morning, Babu. Just when you left the room. He asked me out to dinner because of a certain promise he made when I was little."

"And you accepted?" Quatre's voice was deathly quiet.

"Of course, Babu. You know I wouldn't pass this opportunity up." Megan appeared confused briefly.

Quatre drew in a quiet breath. "Megan, I wish you'd considered that more carefully."

She blinked. "Why? What's there to consider? Papa… Babu… I don't understand. I thought you'd be happy for me."

Trowa's confusion grew incrementally. He frowned, attempting to work out what he thought he was hearing. Evidently Megan, his child, his oldest child… the special one. She was going on a date… with Wufei. Because of a 13 year old promise. And Quatre was… Trowa groped empathically out to his husband for confirmation, yes… outraged was a good word for it. Quatre was livid. But not with Megan. Trowa's frowned smoothed out. "I think I understand." He closed his book and set it aside, lacing his fingers through Quatre's.

"Megan, you go out to dinner with Wufei and have a good time." He smiled gently as the doorbell rang as if on cue. Beside him, Quatre stiffened. Trowa squeezed his husband's hand gently as Megan smiled brilliantly, her good humor restored. She leaned over, kissing them each on the cheek before turning to head out the door.

It wasn't until after the front door closed the Quatre wrenched his hand away and turned on him, glaring at him accusingly. "You just let her go! Just like that? Do you have any idea what you've just done, Trowa?"

Trowa sighed quietly. He hated fighting with Quatre. Even now, after 16 years of marriage, their blow ups, though much more rare, were still spectacular. He extended his hands, resting them lightly on Quatre's shoulders. "Yes, I know what I just did. I think you're overreacting. Wufei made a promise and he's keeping it. Megan and he will go out on their date and have a pleasant evening. He'll bring her back before it gets too late and it will be over. She'll finally get over her fixation and he'll be able to move on without clinging to an excuse he's worn out."

Quatre's eyes widened. "You're so naïve sometimes, Trowa." He pulled away from Trowa, shaking his head. "You don't understand, do you? Megan thinks she's in love with him. And he's done nothing to discourage her."

Trowa frowned. "Nor has he ever done anything that would be inappropriate towards her. He regards her as his niece, nothing more. He won't encourage her affections. She'll be returned to us with her eyes a little more open about who Wufei really is. She'll hurt for a little while and then be fine."

His husband ran a nervous hand through platinum locks that were still as thick and baby fine as the day they'd met. Trowa smiled wistfully. Quatre glanced at his anxiously. "You really think so?"

"Yes, I do. I trust Wufei with my life and I'd certainly trust him with Megan." Trowa's voice was soothing as he pulled Quatre into his arms, hands gently stroking his back. "It'll be fine. You'll see."

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Wufei's eyes widened as Megan answered the door. His grip tightened on the bouquet of daisies he'd picked up on the way over. What the hell was she thinking, dressing like that? He resisted the urge to spin her around and march her back up to her room and make her change. He supposed the dress really wasn't that revealing, but still. She was dressed as though she were going on a date and… he stopped himself abruptly. This was a date, he sternly reminded himself. That was the entire reason he'd gone to the trouble of flowers and polishing his shoes, wasn't it?

It would appear the evening was going to be a touch more difficult that he'd originally thought. Megan had taken him seriously, something he'd never intended. And now, how was he to act on this farce of a date? Megan wasn't a child anymore, the curves hidden in black silk revealed that much. But she was still 15 years his junior. He was old enough to be her father. What was she thinking? He stifled a groan and pasted on a bright smile. "Hi. I brought these."

"Flowers? That's so sweet!" Sea grey eyes lit up in delight as she accept the daisies.

She grinned at him in unabashed pleasure and Wufei could feel his heart begin to pound uncomfortably in his chest. An answering smile rose to his lips and he shrugged lightly. "It's what any gentleman would do on a date? Right? Or have I been out of the game too long?" The teasing tone covered the awkwardness he felt. The apprehension in his stomach stubbornly refused to uncurl.

Megan's smile softened as she turned from the door, setting the flowers on the table in the foyer. "Margie will put those in water for me, thank you Wufei. And I have to say you look really nice. Red is a good color for you."

Wufei's face heated up under the scrutiny. There was something measuring in her gaze as she studied the blacks slacks and red button down he'd worn for the occasion. He gestured towards the car. "Are you ready to go have dinner then?"

"Yes, I am." Her smile did not waver as she exited the house, pulling the door shut behind them.

The drive to the restaurant was made in short, blissful silence. Wufei searched his mind for something to say, but there was nothing appropriate that came to mind. He rationalized the stillness he felt with the knowledge that Megan knew him well enough to know that he abhorred small talk. She seemed content to look out the window at the passing scenery. They pulled into the Italian bistro he'd made reservations at. He took advantage of her distracted state to kill the car's engine and go around to open the door for her. When she glanced up at him, her expression was startled.

She said nothing, but smiled in thanks and accepted the hand he extended to her. What he didn't expect was that she didn't release her grasp on him as they walked from the Jeep. He frowned lightly, wrestling with propriety in his mind. If he dropped her hand, it might hurt her feelings, but he didn't want her to read something into the night that wasn't there. There was nothing there after all. The idea of becoming involved with a girl he regarded as a favored niece was repugnant.

By the time they reached the door of the restaurant he'd come to the conclusion that the hand-holding was all right. Sort of. He'd held her hand when she was little after all, this was no different. But it is different and you know it. She's not 6 years old anymore. You don't have to worry about her taking off into traffic. He silenced the niggling little voice with a firm hand. The maitre de smiled a friendly smile at them as he greeted them. "Do you have reservations, Sir?"

"Yes, Chang, party of 2." Wufei's voice was steady, belying an assurance he did not feel.

They were shown to a table in a far corner, secluded by a tall wall on one side and a blazing fireplace on the other. Bewildered, he cast a glance at the man, who merely winked. Wufei frowned. What nerve the cad had for looking at Megan like that? He tightened his grip on her hand possessively, then realizing what he was doing dropped her hand altogether. Mentally he berated himself for the third time in less than half an hour. If the start of the evening were anything to go by, he'd probably worry himself into an early grave by the end of the night. He only had to make it through dinner, then he could return her to Quatre and Trowa unharmed and his promise fulfilled.

He held out Megan's chair for her, letting her take her seat before seating himself in the seat beside her. "Your server will be with you momentarily, Sir. Our wine list while you wait."

"Thank you." Wufei accepted the slender leather-bound menu and nodded curtly to the man.

The maitre de left, leaving them to themselves. Wufei flipped open the wine list and scanned it carefully. Megan's voice was soft as she spoke. Evidently the waiter had appeared without his even noticing. He blinked in surprise as he heard her order. "I'll have a glass of the '87 Sauvignon Blanc."

What was she doing order wine? His brow furrowed as he stared at her. Not wishing to cause a scene he echoed her order softly and handed the menu to the teenager serving them. When the waiter left he broached the subject cautiously. "Are you certain you should be drinking?"

The corner of her lips lifted in a smirk. "Wufei, I've been allowed to drink wine since I was 7. My fathers stopped watering it down when I was 12."

"But you're still…"

"Young? Yes I know. But my parents did teach me to respect alcohol." She spoke softly, but firmly. "And you aren't my father, Wufei. No one gets to tell me what to do anymore."

Her point sufficiently made, she lifted the menu and flipped it open. "The shrimp fettuccini looks good to me. What are you going to have?"

By the time dinner was over, Wufei had relaxed enough to actually enjoy himself. He'd found Megan to be amazingly knowledgeable about any number of subjects ranging from philosophy to politics to music. She was a skilled conversationalist, but never left him bored or let the intervening silence become awkward. To his amusement, she even laughed at his lame jokes rather than looking at him as though he were from a different planet.

In one of those rare moments of silence as they ate desert, he caught himself staring at her. He amended his earlier assessment of her appearance. She was lovely in an understated way. Her hair was caught back in a loose chignon, a few curls softening the lines of her face. It was the oddest shade or red, not quite auburn like Trowa's anymore, it was brighter and caught the light when she moved her head. Odd that he'd never noticed that before. Her eyes were unadorned with makeup, only the slightest touch of mascara made those grey depths appear bottomless.

And she smelled good, really good. He'd caught himself leaning closer, just to inhale that odd amalgamation of coconut and Chanel. It wasn't an overpowering smell, just the slightest tinge of something besides the smell that was uniquely Megan.

He was pulled from his reverie by her voice, she seemed vaguely amused by something. He blinked and then noticed that she was holding her fork in front of his lips, insisting he try her desert. He began to shake his head, but at the expression of disappointment in her eyes as she withdrew her hand he surprised himself by reaching out to grasp her hand. She appeared startled for a moment as his fingers closed over her wrist, gently pulling the hand and the fork with it back to him. He accepted the bite, pleasantly surprised by the light taste of the cocoa and ladyfingers laden treat.

Wufei held it in his mouth for a moment, before chewing thoughtfully. "That's really good. What is it?"

She stared at him distractedly before speaking. "Tiramisu."

"Tiramisu." He repeated the foreign word, nodding in satisfaction. "It's not as rich as it looks. Does it have coffee in it?"

"Espresso." Her voice was all but a whisper. It was at that moment he noticed that he heart was pounding beneath his thumb. He swallowed hard, wondering when his thumb had developed a mind of its own. It must be acting of its own accord after all, he wouldn't willingly be caressing Megan's pulse point.

Wufei released her hand slowly, and cleared his throat. He retracted his own hand and laced his fingers together, placing his hands in his lap. "I have a meeting in the morning, we'd better get going."

Megan frowned. "That's all. Just dinner?"

He blinked at her. "That's what I promised you, nothing more." His tone was gentle, yet he wondered why her expression suddenly darkened as she nodded. He signaled for the check and paid, leaving a generous tip for the server who'd been attentive yet unobtrusive.

Megan's entire demeanor changed as he guided her out of the restaurant with a hand at her elbow. When they reached the car he pulled her door open. She still did not speak. The short drive back to her home, she said nothing. Her silence remained as he pulled into the driveway. A light burned in the downstairs sitting room, the blinds up revealing that the room was empty.

"Where are your fathers?" Wufei made yet another vain attempt to begin conversation again.

Megan shrugged lightly. "It's 9, they're probably swimming by now. They swim laps together every night before going to bed."

"I see." He put the car in park and listened as the engine slipped into idle.

Beside him Megan unbuckled her seat belt and reached for the door handle. "Thank you for dinner Wufei. I had a nice time."

"Wait, let me open your door for you." He did not give her time to answer, instead unsnapping his own belt buckle and exited the car. She remained silent as he opened the door and stepped aside to let her out. She stared at him hard for a moment before averting her eyes, but not before he saw the tell-tale shimmer of the tears she was obviously holding back.

He sighed heavily as she moved to step around him. He moved with her, his arm snapping out to connect his palm with the window of the back seat of the Jeep. The move effectively blocked her in. Her hand strayed to the chain at her neck, a habit she'd had for years, toying with the chain when she was uncomfortable. Her voice was soft but firm as she spoke. "Good night, Wufei."

Wufei ignored the dismissal. "What's your problem?"

She looked at him then, fixing him with a glare that would have done Heero Yuy proud. "Good night, Wufei." Her tone did not change.

Wufei stepped closer, using their height difference to his advantage. It was a move that worked well in the past. Apparently Megan was having none of it tonight. He did not speak, but was rewarded with a small sigh. "I'm tired, Wufei. I want to go inside."

"Really?" His own voice held an edge. "Twenty minutes ago you didn't seem to be in such a hurry."

"It hit me all at once."

"You're a rotten liar, Megan." He chuckled darkly. "You're an adult now, aren't you? Adults don't run away when there's a battle to be fought."

Megan's eyes were on him again. "Battle? It's hardly a battle, Wufei. It's just the end of a very interesting evening. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go inside and have a long hot bath before I go to bed."

Wufei's eyes narrowed in the face of this avoidance. He frowned lightly. "Okay, I won't press you to talk to me about what's going on." Her relief was immediate and visible, but didn't last long when he continued. "There's just one more thing I promised you."

She blinked, apprehension settling on her delicate features. "I don't understand?"

He smirked lightly and leaned forward, catching her lips lightly before pulling away. "That. I promised you a kiss."

"No." Her negation was immediate.

Wufei arched a brow. "I didn't?"

"You promised me a real kiss." She corrected softly. "Like Babu and Papa." Megan snorted with a lightness he knew she did not really feel. "But I'll settle for what I've gotten."

His voice was suddenly lower as it seemed all reason left him. "Well then, I can't disappoint you can I?" He closed the distance between them and captured her lips once more. His intention was to put an end to this nonsensical infatuation once and for all. Too late, he realized that this kiss was going entirely too far. He let his eyes slide shut as he inhaled that strange scent once more. His hand left the car, coming to rest on her neck, cradling the back of her head gently.

He angled her head to give himself better access to her mouth, his tongue snaking out to trail along the seam of her lips. She made a little sound in the back of her throat, a sound that rocketed straight through him. He could feel himself grow hard instantly as she leaned into the contact. Her lips parted, granting him access to that previously unexplored territory. His heart quickened, his blood pounding in his ears as he heard a ragged intake of breath from one of them. His other hand left the car door and went around her waist, dragging her to him harshly as the pressure of the kiss changed from gentle to something far more primitive and savage.

Acting only on instinct, he pushed her roughly against the car door plundering her mouth, taking what she offered so freely. His hand drifted from her waist down the length of her thigh as he lifted her leg insistently, slipping his hand onto the bare skin just behind her knee. He thrust his hips insistently into hers. It had been too long since he'd touched a woman like this, far too long. Of its own volition his hand slid from down her leg, hooking it around his waist as he lifted her easily. His fingers trailed back up to her thigh, slipping under the dress to caress her roughly, his fingertips devouring every inch of flesh they could reach.

Gods, she was so soft beneath his hands, her lips pliable and yielding to the rough nipping of his teeth and the harsh scrape of his nails on her bare skin. He needed this, needed to be with her. He needed Megan. Megan. His arousal fogged brain suddenly kicked back into gear. He ripped his lips from hers and pulled away suddenly, letting her abused form slide back to solid ground. What was he doing. This wasn't some common harlot he was pawing like a horny teenager. This was Megan, his niece in every way but blood. He was suddenly sickened by the very thought that had provoked him only seconds before.

She stared back, stunned. All anger and sadness had left those sea grey eyes, replaced now with confusion. Her lips were swollen from the rough treatment, evidence of his loss of control. Her entire body was trembling. Guilt pervaded his being as he realized that he'd almost taken her virginity right there, within a stone's throw of his best friends' home. And he did not doubt she was still a virgin. She was too focused on her goals not to be. His chest was heaving from the effort it took not to run from the very spot.

Megan bit her lower lips as she held his gaze. He took a step back, steeling himself for the tongue lashing she would doubtless lay on him for treating her in such a harsh manner. Her words startled him even further. "Why did you stop?"

"What?" He breathed the word in disbelief.

She stared at him, unblinking. "I don't want you to stop, Wufei."

He took another step back as he groped for the ring that he'd worn for so many years. He slid it off his finger and touched her only long enough to push it into her hand. She stared at it in disbelief for a moment before looking back to him, head tilted to the side. He shook his head, his voice still laden with some odd mixture of arousal and grief. "I've fulfilled my promise. Never speak of this again."

Wufei slammed the forgotten passenger door shut and spun on heel to go around to the driver's side. He tried not to notice Megan staring at him in bewildered disappointment, still clutching the band in her hand as she watched him turn around in the circular driveway and leave her standing there alone. He tried not to notice the tightness in his own chest. And he tried not to notice the tears that began to fall as he glanced at her in the rearview mirror.


	3. Desperation

A/N- This chapter is heavy on the angst and it's only the beginning. If you don't like character driven plots I'd duck out now. Be forewarned this chapter contains adult language and implied sexual situations. Much love to Tweety and happy thoughts on her upcoming big day.

Disclaimer- Feh. Silly lawyers.

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Promises Broken  
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Megan stared at her dinner plate without blinking. Quatre glanced at her, growing more worried as she picked at the roast lamb and baby carrots without actually consuming any of them. It had been a week since her date with Wufei. In that week she'd barely spoken to either him or Trowa. He'd had Margaret cook her favorite dishes tonight, hoping to entice her to eat a little something.

Earlier in the week he'd felt vaguely guilty at the secret pleasure he felt that the date obviously hadn't gone well. Trowa had been right after all and their eldest daughter had seemed disappointed, but not heartbroken. But now, she was downright distressed. Her very spirit seemed rumpled. He'd noticed she had also taken off her necklace. It was strange to see her neck bare like that. But both he and Trowa had let it go without comment.

"Babu, will you please pass the potatoes." Quatre was snapped out of his thoughts by the voice of Shair, the youngest of their children. Shair sat to his left, just next to Megan.

Quatre wordlessly passed the potatoes to the 4 year old, his eyes never leaving Megan. Beside Shair, his twin sister bounced in her chair. Irene was the oldest by 4 minutes and never hesitated to remind Shair of it. Her fair hair and round brown eyes were in sharp contrast to Shair's own features. His hair was so dark it was almost black and his eyes were the most curious shade of blue, almost purple in their intensity.

Further down the table, Trowa was speaking quietly with Emma, their second child. The 10 year old was still smarting from being grounded after getting into yet another fight at school. She simply didn't understand that just because someone said something ugly didn't mean you could justify being mean back. It was an uphill battle as Emma was by far their most unruly child. On the other side of Megan sat Lilith, their middle child.

Where as Emma was seemingly a miniature of Trowa, Lilith resembled neither of them. She was the picture of Catherine made over. Catherine had been the surrogate for Lilith, Shair and Irene. After delivering the twins she'd declared herself done with pregnancies.

He and Trowa had turned to Quatre's youngest sister for help with completing their family. She was now pregnant as a surrogate with the last and final Winner children. Yes, children. It still boggled Quatre's mind to think that JZ was carrying triplets. Her adamant refusal to undergo a selective reduction when all three embryos had successfully implanted was fully backed by Quatre and Trowa. It was amazing to realize that in just 3 short weeks, if all went well, their family would be complete with 8 children. 6 had seemed to Quatre and Trowa a good number, that was the sole reason they'd gone for the final pregnancy. But then now that it was getting closer to time for their new children to come home, 8 sounded perfect.

A large family, but not so huge that the Barton-Winner children would feel forgotten about or strangers to one another. But then Quatre was coming to realize that with the addition of each child, he was getting better and better at rationalizing why each addition made the number of children even better.

"Megan, your Papa tells me that you haven't finished your portion of the chapter you're supposed to be working on. Is something bothering you?" Quatre tried quietly. His third vain attempt at starting conversation.

"No, Babu. I'm fine. Just haven't felt quite the thing lately." She responded with a vague hint of a smile that did not reach her eyes.

Quatre nodded and let the lie slide without calling her on it. If it were something earth-shaking she would come to them, as she always did. At the other end of the table, Emma screeched unhappily and pushed her chair back. "You don't understand me! I hate you. I hate all of you!" She flew from the room.

Megan rubbed her temples unhappily. Trowa stared after their daughter in bewildered amusement. "I suppose that I shouldn't have just outright said no, should I?"

Quatre felt his heart sink. His lovely, well-planned family dinner was going to hell in the proverbial hand basket. "What did you say no to?"

Trowa sighed heavily and leaned back in his chair, letting his slender frame fall against the wood heavily. "I told her she couldn't go to a boy-girl party unchaperoned and that Megan needed to be there to watch over her."

Megan's eyes suddenly tore from the plate she'd found so fascinating. "What? Why would you do that? I'm not a babysitter! Did it occur to you that I might have plans that night?"

The tension at the table was beginning to wear on Quatre. He slammed his open palm onto the tabletop and spoke in a dangerously low tone. "That's enough, out of everyone. Shair, stop playing with your potatoes, Lilith, please stop slouching, Reenie, your chair is not a pilot's seat, the dinner table is not a Gundam and your carrots are not Treize Khushrenada. Megan, I'll speak to you in private. Right now, if you please."

He abruptly pushed his chair back and strode from the room, heading in the direction of the family room. Once there, he stood before the window staring out at the gardens in an effort to rein in his temper for the coming storm. Megan entered the room silently. It never failed to astonish him, the mannerisms and traits she had of his husband's. He spoke softly. "Please shut the door behind you." She obeyed instantly and crossed the room to stand next to him, arms folded as she waited for him to speak.

He turned to look at her. There were bruises beneath her eyes, evidence of her lack of rest. Her normally rosy complexion was pale and she'd obviously lost weight. He resisted the urge to wrap her in his arms and rock her back and forth as he'd done so many times when she was little.

Quatre drew in a deep breath and indicated the plush leather sofa that had seen 5 children and countless juice stains. He waited until she was seated before dropping onto the couch and folding his left leg beneath him, angling his body to face her full on. "You want to tell me what's going on?"

Megan sighed heavily and ran her hand through her hair, squeezing at the base of her neck in a trademark nervous movement. She remained stubbornly silent. Quatre gritted his teeth as he felt her out. She was noticeably upset, her unease radiating off her in waves. There was no small amount of sadness, tinged with a deep rooted anger she herself probably didn't even realize was there. He tried again. "Megsie, you know you can talk to me."

"Not about this, Babu." She responded gently, her voice thin and tired. "I'm dealing with it on my own."

"Bullshit." The curse was unguarded. She was surprised to hear it. He rarely cursed in front of the children, and never intentionally so. "You're so obviously upset that I've been distracted at work for an entire week. You aren'teating, you aren't sleeping and your dreams are entirely too powerful because even I wake up in a cold sweat."

Megan slipped her shoes off and curled her knees to her chest, disregarding the perfectly pressed slacks that probably cost more than the couch they were sitting on. He eyed her levelly, patiently waiting for her to come clean. At last she inhaled deeply, and stared at the strand of hair she was worrying with. "He hates me."

Quatre frowned. She was obviously referring to Wufei. "He said he fulfilled his promise and then he dismissed me like I was one of his unruly students at the dojo. It was humiliating, Babu. And it hurts so much. I really thought he was honestly going to give me a fair shot and then he didn't and it just about tore my heart out to realize that he can't see me as anything but a little kid."

There it was again, the guilt over the feeling of relief that he now knew for certain that Wufei had not led his child on in an inappropriate way. He banished the guilt, something he'd gotten pretty good at over the last 15 years. "Megan, what happened on your date with Wufei? Did he do something?"

"No, Babu. He was a perfect gentleman and it was an incredible time, at first. But after dinner, something in him changed. He was… different. He kissed me, and it was the most powerful thing I've ever felt in my life. But when it was over, he just took a step back and took off his ring and handed it to me. He didn't even give me a chance to tell him how I felt." Tears now threatened Megan. She fisted her hand around the strands of hair and squeezed tightly. "I love him, Babu. And I know you don't think I know what love really is, but I've loved him since I was five years old and at that moment it was like every dream I've ever had was shattered."

"What do you mean?" Quatre pressed her gently.

She bit her lower lip for a moment and freed her hair as she angrily scrubbed at her eyes. "All the dreams I've ever had for my future included him. Having my own home and children. It was so overwhelming to suddenly not have those dreams anymore."

Quatre weighed his reply carefully, not wanting to upset his daughter anymore than she already was. His relief at the revelation that Wufei would not be pursuing a relationship that was highly inappropriate warred with his natural anger at anyone who hurt his child's feelings. "Megsie, maybe it's for the best. There's a lot about Wufei that you don't know. And he's a lot older than you. Have you ever stopped to consider the challenges any relationship between you two would mean? He'd be 45 when you turn 30. That's a huge difference."

"But look at Aunt Catherine and Uncle Abdul. He's 11 years older than her and they're happy." She insisted with a soft sniffle of misery.

"But, honey, their circumstances are far different. Your Aunt Catherine has a lot more in common with Abdul than you know." He fell silent, wondering if perhaps the time had come to enlighten her as to the entire truth about them and their circle of friends. Megan had never seen her mother's journals, for one reason and one reason only. It revealed their history as Gundam pilots and Quatre hesitated to allow that knowledge to poison their child's perception of the peaceful world she knew.

Trowa had pushed for them not to keep secrets, but Quatre had insisted that they'd fought hard for the peace their children knew and he wanted to keep their childhoods idyllic. Or as close to it as he could. He inhaled deeply, his decision made. "Megan, wait here for me. I'll be right back. There's something I think it's time you were told."

She gazed at him for a moment, then nodded. He exited the room swiftly and retrieved a startled Trowa from the kitchen where he was overseeing the younger children's efforts to wash up the dinner dishes. Quatre did not explain to him anything, instead steering him by the elbow to the family room. As he pulled his husband into the room and pointed to a seat, Trowa wordlessly complied. He shared that trait with Megan, the infinite patience with people who insisted on being difficult.

Quatre returned to his seat and eyed Trowa. "It's time to tell her about the war. About all of us. Everything."

Trowa appeared startled for a moment and then nodded. "Do you want to, or shall I?"

"I will. I just want you here, in case I need you." He paused, then looked back to Megan who was frowning at them.

"War? I don't understand."

"You will, if you'll just be patient with me and let me explain everything to you." Quatre waited until she nodded and then laced his fingers together, steeling himself against the onslaught he knew would bombard him as he spoke. "You know that your grandfather, my father, died during the war."

"A resource satellite accidentally shot down by the colonists." She confirmed.

"It wasn't an accident. They were shooting at him for political reasons. They wanted him to turn over control of the colonies resources to them. He refused and chose to die protecting what he saw as a symbol of what they'd all worked so hard for. The truth behind his death was glossed over in the news, because the media at large was controlled by OZ, and they had excellent resources for covering thing up." His voice took on a bitter edge.

Megan remained silent, digesting this information. He continued. "My father was a pacifist. He and I disagreed about that. To me freedom was something precious to protect and fight for, even if it meant losing my own life. Megsie, the truth is not that I was in school on L4 during the war. I was a soldier in the war. So was your Papa. All of us were actually. Your uncles and us."

"All of you?" Megan's voice was soft with shock.

"Yes." Trowa broke in. "You've heard of the Gundam Pilots?"

"We studied about them in history class a few semesters ago. Papa, what are you getting at?"

"What Babu isn't being very clear about, Megan, is that Heero, Duo, Wufei, Quatre and I… we were the five Gundam Pilots."

Quatre could feel the sudden shock that Megan felt, followed by confusion. He held his hands out palms up as he attempted to explain. "The reason we didn't tell you is because we fought hard for freedom and peace. And we wanted all of our children to experience that peace without worrying about their families' involvement in the war."

"It explains a lot." Megan spoke in a soft, stunned voice. "It really does. But what does that have to do with Wufei being an ass? I'm not making a connection."

"Megan, a lot happened to all of us during those years. It was the worst time in our lives in a lot of ways. But it was especially rough on Wufei. He was married when he was 14, an arranged marriage set up by the elders of his clan on L5. His wife died only a few months after their marriage. He fought in a way because of her, because of this obsession he had with justice and honor." He could see that she was going to interrupt him, he held his hand up again. "Let me finish." Megan's mouth snapped closed again.

Quatre's jaw flexed as he fought back tears. "One of the things you don't know about Wufei is that he single-handedly changed the course of history."

Trowa interrupted him. "Babe, I think you might be exaggerating."

"No, I'm not and you know it." Quatre returned his attention to Megan. "You know who Treize Khushrenada is, beyond the fact that your little sister is obsessed with him."

Trowa snorted. "We never should have let her watch that documentary."

Quatre cut a glare at his spouse. "Wufei was the one who killed Treize."

Megan's shock multiplied. She sat silently for a few minutes, processing this information. "I think I understand now." She slowly uncurled from her position on the couch where she'd been hugging her knees since Quatre had begun speaking. "I see what you're saying. You're saying that because I didn't know these things about Wufei, that I can't possibly be the person he needs."

The blond man bit his lower lip thoughtfully. "I wouldn't put it exactly like that, Meg."

"Sure you would. Just not so crudely." She smiled sadly. "You may be right about this, Babu. If you'll excuse me, I think I need to be alone. I have some serious thinking to do."

He nodded. "Of course."

"And thank you, Babu. For trusting me enough to finally tell me the truth." She toed her shoes back on and slowly made her way from the room, hugging her midsection protectively.

They watched her go. When she had disappeared from view, he became aware of Trowa moving to embrace him from behind, pressing a gentle kiss to the nape of his neck. "I'm proud of you, my heart."

Quatre closed his eyes and leaned back into the strong embrace. "I love you too, Trowa."

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Wufei clutched the bottle of bourbon closer. He'd abandoned the glass when he'd opened a second bottle. Thank the gods it was finally kicking in. His mission had been extended unexpectedly by four days. He'd begun hating taking field work. After 17 years at the same job, he'd seen more action than the average agent. He wanted a desk job. No, he wanted to quit. He'd been offered an anthropology professorship at the University on multiple occasions and turned it down just as many times. He only had 3 more years then he'd be able to retire with a full pension. God, retirement. That only made him feel so much older.

He took another deep swing of bourbon and leaned back into the couch, propping his feet on the coffee table. Liquor wasn't something he usually resorted to, but on occasion, there was simply no better way to dim reality enough to get his body to slow down. Especially after such a horrible mission. He growled to himself and looked around his apartment dispassionately. The only thing he managed to feel was disgust. It was a bare as the day he'd moved in 10 years earlier. No pictures hung on the walls and the space was devoid of any decoration. All in all, it was a depressing existence. Lonely.

"Look at you, wallowing in self-pity again." The voice came from the chair next to the couch he sat on. It was a voice he knew well.

Wufei rolled his eyes and exhaled heavily. "Go away. I'm not in the mood."

"Obviously you are. We only talk when you're not doing well." Meiran sat primly on the edge of the chair, looking as youthful and beautiful and fierce as the day she'd died.

He chose to ignore that comment and studied the ghost of his dead wife for a long moment of time, taking a leisurely sip of the bourbon. He snorted lightly. God she was so young. Had he ever been so young? Her features were barely mature, hardly more than those of a child. He frowned and took another sip of the bourbon, this time with more vigor. "Why are you here?"

"You already know the answer to that, my husband. You called me. You always call me. And I always come." Meiran's voice was resigned, tinged with sadness.

"Well aren't you just the dutiful little woman. You couldn't have been so obedient when you were alive?" He snorted again.

Meiran's eyes narrowed. "And you've changed as well. You're a bigger asshole than ever, my love."

Wufei snickered at this sarcastic endearment. "What do you want?"

"Why do you do this to yourself? To me? You think I don't deserve to rest?" Her voice turned stern.

Wufei let his head fall back on the cushion of the couch, lifting a hand to mimic flapping lips. "You know, you're even more annoying now than you were then. I don't do shit to you and you know it."

"Oh? What about denying yourself and me the opportunity to move on?"

"Move on? There's nothing to move on to, woman." He sighed and lifted his head. "Go away, Nataku."

"You love her, Wufei." His dead wife insisted.

Wufei growled lightly. "You're even crazier now too."

"You're lying to yourself and you're hurting both of you." Meiran snapped insistently. "Get your act together, Wufei. Unless you want to die alone."

"I'm going to die alone anyway, woman. I don't want to be with anyone. And I'm not THAT old." He retorted.

"I saw you with her the other night, Wufei. You were all over her. Those aren't the actions of a man who feels nothing."

"Those were the actions of a sexually frustrated person, Nataku." He spoke witheringly. "I feel nothing for her."

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Megan stood in front of Wufei's door, her car keys dangling loosely from one hand. She'd spent the duration of the evening after her fathers' revelation pacing her room. It was now after 10 pm, she'd made her decision. She had to get answers, the answers she knew she deserved. Wufei could be damned with his foul temper. The voice she heard was obviously his. She knocked on softly on the door, almost afraid of what she would find on the other side.

There was no answer. She knocked a second time. Wufei's voice did not cease. She frowned as she leaned closer to the wooden door, realizing that he was speaking as though engaged in a conversation with someone, but there was no other voice. He was probably on the phone. Megan pushed the door open and let herself in. Wufei sat on the couch, vehemently waving a bottle of bourbon as he spoke to make his point. "I don't care anything for her, she's just a child! I'm not a pervert."

He paused, gaze directed at the empty chair across from him. "I'm not talking to you anymore if you're going to be that way." He leaned forward, slamming the bottle on the coffee table for emphasis. He caught sight of Megan and furrowed his brow. "What the hell are you doing here? Don't you know how to knock?"

Megan gritted her teeth. "I knocked twice. The door was unlocked and I heard you talking. Who were you talking to?"

"That's none of your business, get out." He spat the words angrily.

"No." She replied firmly. "I need to talk to you."

Wufei scoffed. "There's nothing to talk about. Unless you have a good recipe for fried shrimp, because I've been wanting some shrimp."

Megan frowned. "You're drunk, Wufei."

"Yes. Yes, I am." He replied proudly, his scowl disappearing. "You're smart. You've always been smart. You must get that from Trowa."

Her frown deepened. "Wufei, may I sit down? I need to speak to you about something important."

"Why the hell not, you won't leave. You may as well take over my apartment too." He gestured grandly to the other end of the couch.

Megan gingerly toed off her sneakers and padded barefoot to the couch, taking a seat on the edge, angled to face him head on. "You're a sourpuss when your drunk."

"No, my repressed negativity just comes out." He retorted. "What do you want? Say your piece and then get out, I want to be alone. Or mostly alone."

She pointedly ignored the cryptic remark and stared at him. "I want you to know that I know everything."

"Everything about what?" He frowned at her, his confusion evident.

"About the war, and your wife. I also know about you piloting a Gundam and killing Treize Khushrenada. I want you to know that it doesn't scare me away, knowing these things about you. It doesn't change how I feel." Megan kept her tone purposefully low.

Wufei snorted and let his head drop back onto the couch cushion staring up at the ceiling. "You know you're full of shit. Of course it changes everything. Now instead of infatuation, it's just going to mutate into pity. If that's all, you should go."

Megan was lost for words. Why was he doing this? Being this way? When had he become so cynical. Or maybe Babu was right and she really didn't know him as well as she thought she did. The words were out before she even realized what she was saying, a last ditch effort as it were. "Give me one night, Wufei."

His head rose from it's resting place to peer at her curiously, all signs of anger gone as quickly as they had come. "I beg your pardon?"

"You heard me."

"One night to do what? Ravish me? As if having sex with my niece will change my mind about how I feel about you." He shuddered dramatically and rose from the couch. "Is that all you have to say, Megan? Because if you drove all the way to Manhattan to tell me that, you really must have lost your mind."

He rounded the coffee table and pointed to the door. "I've let you say what you came to say, now I want you to leave. Leave before I throw you out on that luscious little ass of yours." Wufei stared at her, his handsome features twisting into a mockery of a smile.

Megan could feel the disappointment welling up inside her again. It was a feeling she was well familiar with after a week of this entire mess. She bolted from the couch and crossed the room, planting herself in front of him. "Your such a hypocrite, Wufei."

"What?" He stared at her, incredulous. "You dare to insult me in my own home!"

"Home?" Megan laughed bitterly. "Look around you. This isn't a home. It's a hiding place. That' what you do. You preach to everyone about facing their demons, but you hide behind your job and your piety never taking a chance with your heart. You're such a liar, so afraid of your emotions and feelings that you never risk getting hurt. You're a hypocrite and a liar and I don't know what I see in you. But I do see something, because I love you now more than when I was a child. I'm offering you the world and you're refusing because you're a coward!"

She knew instantly that she'd gone too far. She'd seen Wufei angry, but never angry and drunk. She spun on heel and leaned over to grab her shoes. His hand shot out, grabbing her by the arm and preventing her from moving. Megan attempted to jerk from his grasp. He loosened his grip slightly and the knowledge that though he was visibly angry with her, he unconsciously made allowances so as not to hurt her, warmed her somehow despite her anger.

"You need to learn a few things about me, Megan. Things that obviously your fathers left out when they informed you of my past." He took a step closer, black eyes glittering dangerously. "I don't take lightly to being insulted, especially not by spoiled rich little brats who've never known real pain."

"Shut up, Wufei. Just shut the fuck up. I don't care what you think anymore. You think I don't know pain. My mother committed suicide. I was thrust into a family that I didn't belong in. It was years before I really believed they wouldn't send me away. And on top of it, I've lived my entire life hoping in a vain dream that I know now will never come true. But I pity you, Wufei. Because even though I may be spoiled, at least I think of people other than myself. You're not only a coward, you're also a pathetic, selfish little man who can't see when someone really cares." She was appalled by the venom in her voice, but she forged on, knowing the damage was already done.

"All I wanted was one night of your life. That's at least what I deserve. Now release me and let me leave. You wanted me out, I'll go and gladly. And I'll never see you or speak to you again."

"Do you hate me now, Megan?" He leaned closer, his entire body trembling with the force of his barely contained rage. "Have I accomplished through my selfishness what I tried to accomplish through more humane means?"

Megan snorted angrily. "Of course I don't hate you. I could never hate you. Once you truly love someone, you never stop loving them. Ever. You may not like them, but you never stop loving someone if you ever really loved them." She jerked at her arm once more, finding Wufei's grip to be ironclad.

He propelled her towards the door, but didn't open it as she expected. Instead, she found herself with her back pressed into it and Wufei standing over her, glaring at her through angry obsidian orbs. His grip did not lessen, instead his other hand coming up to grip her other arm just as tightly. She did not blink, or show her surprise. She merely stared at him, just as boldly as she'd done through the entire argument.

Wufei smirked, his voice suddenly cold. "You pity me? I'm a coward, and I'm selfish? You deserve a night of my life? You should hear yourself. You want to be treated like an adult, but you act like a child, throwing a fit when you don't get your own way. Disappointment is a huge part of life. I suggest you get used to it, Princess."

"Let me go." Her own voice was just as hard.

"Or what?" The smirk remained fixed on his face, giving her the distinct impression that he knew something she didn't.

Megan wiggled in his grasp. "Or I'll scream."

"Oh, yes." His voice dropped to a low rumble as he stepped closer. "You'll scream, but not because you're trying to manipulate the neighbors. You'll scream because I'm going to give you your one night. One you'll never forget and when I'm finished with you, you'll put aside this foolishness once and for all." He released her and took a step back, the challenge clear in his eyes. "Follow me, if you really think you can handle it."

He turned then, heading down the hallway that led to the bedrooms. She stood there for a moment, wondering at his sudden change in demeanor. He was testing her… but why? She turned around to face the door, her hand resting on the knob for a moment before she nodded resolutely and slid the deadbolt home.

Her feet seemed to move of their own accord, following Wufei's retreating shadow to the sanctuary of his bedroom. Dimly she wondered if she'd been given a chance to redeem herself. The thought that followed was even dimmer. That perhaps it was Wufei she sought to redeem.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Wufei stood over the bed, his drink-fogged mind niggling at him that something was off. There was something he'd meant to do differently. All he did know clearly is that he was pissed. He was pissed off at Megan and intended to give her exactly what she seemed to think she wanted. He'd been deadly serious when he told her he would make her scream. He turned to the closet and slid open the bi-fold doors, glaring at the clothing within. He spied his gun belt and let a bitter smile slide over his face. Megan wanted the person she thought she loved? He'd show her the truth, the brutal reality of what it meant to love a murderer.

He bypassed the gun belt and reached for a tie, a lavender silk affair given to him for a birthday years ago by Quatre. He tugged at it, testing it carefully. Perfect. It wouldn't leave marks, but would serve his purpose nicely. Consent was all he needed. Wufei was angry, yes… but he wasn't a rapist. He'd make certain that Megan got what she thought she wanted, and then more.

He became dimly aware of her standing just inside the door of his bedroom, he turned and regarded her critically. She looked far older than her 18 years, dark circles beneath her eyes evidence of her lack of sleep. Vaguely he wondered what had caused that. He shoved the concern aside and smiled at her, a bare hint of things to come….

The bruises he left on her would last for almost 2 weeks, but the aftershocks of that night stayed with him far longer. And when she at last acquiesced to his demand that she leave before he could damage her further, it was almost 4 am. He'd taken her twice more, each time feeling himself falling further into that trap he'd set for himself. She left smelling of sex and bearing marks all over her tender body. He'd been rough each time, with a brutality that was primitive and savage. And she had not complained or pushed him away. And each time he found his own brand of painful bliss.

Who said love didn't hurt?

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

PostScript- To indulge censors I have posted the unedited version of this chapter on The url is www. mediaminer . org / fanfic / view st . php / 88252 /. To access remove the spaces like a good girl or boy and enjoy. Please let me know if it is wrong as it is very late and I am not good with this.


	4. Consequences

A/N I'm dreadfully sorry this took so long to put up. The stories been completed for months, I've just been busy with other things and it got put on the back burner. As an apology, I'm posting the rest of the story all in one huge update. Again, my apologies.

Promises

Chapter 4

Trowa watched as Megan's fingers flew over the keyboard. Her demeanor had improved drastically over the last 2 months. She even laughed occasionally. At dinner the previous night celebrating the homecoming of Catherine and Abdul from tour with the circus, she had conversed with the rest of the extended family. After the conversation revealing the truth about their pasts, she had withdrawn for a few days. Quatre revealed to him later that he had never felt such conflicting emotions from their daughter, but they seemed to be calming as time went on.

Now, they were finishing the last chapter of their collaborative effort on a mystery novel. Megan had been focused, throwing herself into their work with a vengeance he had not realized she possessed. He watched his daughter proudly as she pushed the laptop across the table to him, so he could read the paragraph she'd written. He read silently and then smiled to himself. Megan drummed her perfectly manicured fingers on the worktable until finally Trowa could stand it no longer. "Honey, why don't you take a break. You're looking a little pale. Did you skip breakfast again?"

She shook her head. "I ate a banana."

"A banana is not breakfast. You've been feeling under the weather for a week. I think you should make an appointment with Sally."

"No, I'm sure it's just stress. Papa. We've got this deadline looming and I want to get done. Maybe after we're finished, I'll take a little vacation by myself. I could use some time away from the chaos."

Quatre chose that moment to knock on the door and stick his head in. "Megan, I just wanted you to know that I set you up an appointment with Sally. She was able to fit you in at 11, so you'd better get going."

Trowa arched a brow as he wondered just how worried Quatre was to risk Megan's wrath in such a foolish move. Sure enough, she grew visibly agitated. "I'm fine. Would you please stop harping, Babu?"

"No, I will not stop harping." He glared at her sternly. "You're pale, you're not eating and you're barely sleeping. I want you healthy."

Megan sighed heavily. "Will you promise to leave me alone if I go?"

Quatre nodded happily. "Yes. I swear. I won't even ask what Sally says. Do we have a deal?"

Megan grumbled but accepted as she glanced at her watch and rose from the chair. "I'd better go. It's after 10 now."

Trowa watched her go, leaning back in his chair. He was really worried about that child. She simply hadn't been the same.

x x x x x x x x x x x x

Megan watched the clock closely. She'd been sitting in the office for the better part of an hour, waiting for her parent's lifelong friend, who was also her physician. The exam had been quick enough, leading the blonde woman to demand blood samples for further testing. Megan was simply waiting for the results. She scratched her head irritably. Why was everyone spazzing out over a simple little virus? It was just stress… or a stomach bug. She'd been sick for weeks, but hadn't lost weight. In fact she'd gained 3 pounds.

There was a short knock at the door and Sally let herself in. Megan tossed aside the well-thumbed issue of People Magazine and crossed her legs at the ankles to regard Sally, frown firmly in place. The woman took a seat on the rolling stool and opened the files, her expression serious. "Megan, why didn't you tell me you were sexually active?"

Megan blinked. What? "I'm sorry. I didn't know it was anyone's business. It was only one night. That hardly constitutes regular sexual activity."

"Well, I wish you would have told me. What method of birth control did you use?"

"Birth control?" Megan echoed, her confusion mounting.

Sally spoke impatiently. "Yes, birth control. You didn't have unpr…." The clear unlined blue orbs widened in shock and realization. "Meggie, you had unprotected sex your first time out?"

"It wasn't like that… okay… neither of us really thought about it. Besides my chances of getting pregnant are so slim it didn't seem to matter. You said yourself that my periods would never be exactly regular and to get pregnant I'd probably have to use fertility drugs. So what does it matter. Did I get an STD or something? I hardly think that Wu…" Megan caught herself. "I hardly think that would be the case. The person I was with was clean. I know this for a fact."

Sally's eyes narrowed. "Who was it?"

Megan threw her hands up and rose from the chair. "That's it. I'm leaving. If you want to waste my time, today's not a good day. I have a deadline and a lot of work left to do."

"Sit down." Sally spoke firmly.

Megan frowned, something in the doctor's tone holding her back. She sat once again. Sally drew in a deep breath. "I won't mince words. You're 9 weeks pregnant, Meg."

Her breath caught in her throat. "What? That's not possible!" She rose form her seat again. "How is that possible? You said I couldn't…"

"I know what I said… and obviously Nature has a different way of doing things in your case than we thought. The question now is what do you want to do about it?"

Megan's head was spinning. "I'm… I hadn't considered it. Can I… just take a walk?"

"Sure. There's no hurry. Maria will give you an information kit on your way out." Sally's disapproval was hard to take, almost as hard as the news. "And I hope to God you make the right decision for your sake and Wufei's."

Her eyes nailed Sally. The other woman had always been perceptive. It was uncanny. "How did you…"

"I'm not an idiot. You barely stopped yourself from saying his name and he's been just as miserable as you the last couple of months. Now, I'm obligated not to say anything to anyone now that you're a legal adult… but I'd advise you to be extremely careful. This decision you have to make will change your life, and his. No matter what you decide." Sally rose from the stool and with those words, strode from the room.

Megan rose from the chair and made her way out of the office, barely listening as Maria gave her the necessary information packet about her "condition". She clutched the opaque white plastic bag as she made her way out onto the city streets. Her head was swimming with the shock of what Sally had said. She was pregnant. The word echoed in her mind, mocking her as though sealing her doom.

But was it doom? Her fathers would be furious when they found out. No… furious was too strong a term. Disappointed and upset but not furious. They would demand to know the details. Details that she was not ready to share with anyone. She walked blindly, barely pausing for the crosswalk signs. She found herself, oddly enough, in front of Alex's building. She sighed heavily and stared at the door. Alex would be disappointed too. Megan flexed her fisted hands and spun on heel, heading back to her car.

Once inside it, she started the car with trembling hands, cranking the air conditioner to it's highest setting. She stared at the bag she'd tossed onto the passenger seat and reached for it, letting the brochures and instruction sheets flutter into her lap. She ground her teeth as she lifted the one on top.

"Your Healthy Pregnancy." Megan muttered the words to herself as she flipped the booklet open. The picture on the first page showed a picture of a serene mother cradling a sleeping newborn. Megan tossed it aside and reached for the second one. "Prenatal Care and you."

She tossed that one aside as well and lifted the last one. "Unplanned Miracles." At this point she was physically resisting the urge to bang her head repeatedly into the steering wheel. She reached for the bag once more and gathered up the papers and brochures, shoving them unceremoniously into the bag. A rattling noise from the bag caught her ear. She explored it further and pulled out two bottles of pills. One of prenatal vitamins and one of folic acid.

Megan closed her eyes and pushed the offending bottles back into the bag. She reached for her cell phone and dialed information. As she waited for the call to go through, she scanned the street before her distractedly.

"Information."

"I need a travel agency."

"Any particular one?"

Megan bit her lower lip. If she bought the ticket on the internet, her father's would undoubtedly trace the website down and get the information. She hesitated only a moment longer. "The last one on the list, please."

"That would be Omega Travel, one moment for that listing." There was a click, the a robotic voice recited the number in her ear.

She waited for the connection and was rewarded with a lyrically accented voice. "Omega Travel, this is Andrea, how can I help you today?"

"I need to book a flight and hotel, please."

"And where are you traveling to?" Megan's brain suddenly kicked into gear with that question.

She was really going to do this. She'd never run from anything in her life, and now seemed like as good a time as any to start. Her voice was resolute as she answered. "Beijing."

"And when will you be traveling?"

"As soon as possible." Megan crossed her fingers, praying silently that she could leave today. She needed a head start before her parents realized what she'd done.

The sound of typing paused on the other end. "I have a flight leaving today at 4:53 PM out of Peacecraft International Airport. There are seats available in first class sleeper, business class and economy. What is your preference?"

"First sleeper, please."

"One moment. May I have your name please?"

Here, Megan felt a slight panic edging in. She hadn't thought of that. She gritted her teeth. "Can you hold on just a moment?"

"Of course."

Megan leaned over to the glove box and popped it open, extracting the brown wrapped bundle clearly labeled for emergencies. She ripped it open and flipped through the sealed envelopes. Each of the envelopes contained the equivalent of a new identity. Driver's licenses, credit cards and most importantly, passports. She'd never understood the purpose of having so many potential aliases. Given Babu's standing in the business world and the potential for kidnapping when she was younger, she could understand it now. But 10 separate envelopes?

She grabbed one at random and quoted the name labeled on the front. "Kiseki Bloom."

"Will you spell the first name for me please?"

Megan spelled the name carefully, making sure the woman didn't mess it up. She bit her lower lip as Andrea quoted the astronomical price. It would make a major dent in the credit limit on Kiseki's MasterCard. She decided then and there that paying in cash would be the best thing. She confirmed the flight and promised to pick her ticket up at the office in less than an hour. She had to hurry to make it to the bank and there and then to her flight. She thanked the woman and disconnected the call, putting the car into drive with a lighter heart.

x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x

Quatre cradled a sleeping Mariam gently, bottled perched expertly with his free hand as he cradled the cordless phone between his cheek and shoulder. "All right, Alex. Thank you. If you hear from her, please let us know."

"Sure thing, Mr. Winner." The young man on the other end hung up. Trowa approached Quatre from behind and took the phone, hanging up the call. He glanced at the other two infants who slept peacefully in their cribs as Quatre moved to the third and gently lowered the little girl into her own.

They exited the room in silence. Quatre leaned against the door for a moment, listening carefully. It was silent. "What did Alex say?"

"Nothing. The same thing all her friends said. The same thing Sally said. Where is she Trowa? It's after two in the morning. Where could she be?" Quatre's distress was obvious as he paced the length of their bedroom.

Trowa stared at the phone in his hands and shook his head. "She said she was stressed, that she was thinking of taking some time out after we finished the book. Maybe she just decided to check into a hotel for the night. I think we should give her more time."

"No, Trowa. It's been 16 hours since she left the house. She was only going to the doctor. She'd have called if she was going to be late. She could be lying somewhere hurt, or worse."

"Quatre, love, please you need to calm down. You know yourself that you'd have felt it if she were in danger or upset. Is she either right now?"

Quatre shook his head vehemently. "You don't understand, Trowa. I can't feel her at all. There's no more connection. It's just gone. I didn't feel anything happen to her, so we know she's alive… but I can't feel her at all. That means there's something not right here."

Cerulean eyes watched as Trowa dropped onto the chaise at the foot of their bed. The taller man remained pensive. Quatre could clearly feel the connection to his husband, as well as to all the other children and pilots. But his oldest daughter, her empathic signature was nowhere to be found. Quatre spoke again. "It's like she just disappeared." He surged forward and pulled the phone from Trowa's hand. "I'm calling Sally again."

"Quatre, please. She doesn't know anything." Trowa ran a hand through his hair, a habit borne long ago in reflex to anxiety. It was the same thing the Megan did when she was upset.

Quatre shook his head. "No. I'll apologize for waking her up, but I want to exhaust all possibilities. The police won't help since she's of age. The Preventer's don't do missing persons cases unless she's been missing 72 hours. And I'm not waiting that long."

Trowa exhaled heavily and let his slender frame fall against the back of the chaise. "Fine."

Quatre dialed the number from heart and waited while it rang. It took five rings before a very groggy Sally Po picked up. "Someone had better be bleeding, dying or dead."

"Sally, it's Quatre. I'm sorry to call you so late, but it's urgent."

The doctor suddenly sounded more awake. "What's wrong?"

"It's Megan. She hasn't come home and none of her friends have seen her. Please, Sally if she was upset when she left your office I need to know why."

Sally's voice was regretful as she spoke. "She was a little upset, but she seemed to be in control of herself. I'm sorry, Quatre. I wish I could help you more."

Quatre could feel his heart breaking. He sank onto the chaise next to his lover and choked back a sob. "Sally, please… tell me what happened."

She sighed heavily on her end. "Quatre, I wish I could tell you, God I wish I could. But I can't break that confidentiality, you know that. Have you tried Wufei, yet?"

"Wufei?" He rubbed his eye wearily. "What does he have to do with any of this?"

Sally seemed to hesitate. "Didn't Megan consider him to be… special to her? Maybe she would go there."

"No, she hasn't spoken to him or of him in months. I doubt she'd be there." A strangled sob of frustration escaped him.

"You might be surprised just how close they really are, Quatre." Sally suggested gently. "I'm sorry to do this, but I have to be at HQ at 6 and I need to get some sleep. Call me in the morning if you don't find her."

"Of course, Sally." He struggled to regain his composure. He hung up and dropped the phone onto the chaise next to them.

What did Sally mean? Closer… to Wufei? Megan knew she could tell them anything without fear of judgment, she'd never kept secrets from them, even if she thought they wouldn't approve. Their daughter was a responsible, level-headed young woman. She'd put thoughts of pursuing anything with Wufei out of her head after their revealing conversation two months ago. The next morning, she'd slept until nearly noon and woken with a shadow of a smile on her face. She'd been steadily improving since then as she worked through what she now knew about them all.

He needed answers… and he needed them now. Decision made, Quatre rose from the sofa, face set in steely determination. There was no sign of his former frustration or anger. If Megan was with Wufei, he'd go over there and retrieve her, as simple as that. If she wasn't… well he'd cross that bridge when he came to it.

Wufei. Quatre could gladly cause his long-time friend grievous bodily injury for being the spring board for his child's long bout with misery. He resolutely reached for his car keys. "I'm going to the city. Stay here with the kids and call me if Megan shows up."

Trowa frowned at him, startled at the sudden change in demeanor. "Where are you going?"

Quatre was at the door before he turned, an eerie smile gracing his handsome features. "I'm going to pay Wufei a little visit." He watched impassively as his husband nodded, making no move to stop him.

"If that's what you need to do." Trowa sighed and reached for the phone. "I'm contacting Rashid. There's a shuttle from L4 leaving in a couple of hours he can be here by mid-morning."

"Do it." Quatre turned on heel and made his way swiftly from the room.

x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x

Wufei scowled into his pillow. Something had woken him from a very sound sleep and interrupted his dream. His very good dream. He waited. Sure enough there it was again. A distinct banging on his front door. He growled menacingly and threw back the duvet. He rose from the bed, pulling on the discarded sleep pants as he went.

The pounding continued as he made his way to the door. "All right, I'm coming." He snapped as he unlocked the deadbolt and cracked the door. To his shock, Quatre Winner stood on the other side, his expression just short of rage.

Wufei groaned and shut the door unlocking the chain lock and pulling the door open. "There had better be a damn good reason you're waking the entire building at 3:30 in the morning, Winner."

Quatre's hand shot out and pushed the door all the way open, pushing Wufei aside roughly as he entered the apartment uninvited. "Where is she?"

Wufei blinked, his surprise by the rude entry outweighed by his natural state of anger at being woken. "Where is who?"

"My daughter, Wufei. Where is Megan?" Quatre spun in place, taking in the combined kitchen, dining, and living area as though the person he was seeking would pop out from the pantry to greet him.

The Chinese man frowned. "Megan? I haven't seen her in months. What the fuck is wrong with you?"

Quatre did not answer, but spun on heel and made his way down the short hallway into Wufei's bedroom. Wufei followed, growing more confused by the second. "What the hell is this all about?"

"Where is Megan, Wufei?" Quatre jerked the closet door open and roughly pushed aside the neatly hanging clothing as if she would appear on the shelves behind them. His eyes fell on the floor of the closet where Wufei's shoes were.

Wufei frowned. "She's certainly not in my closet, Quatre. It's not even a walk-in. Now will you kindly tell to me, what is going on?"

He watched as Quatre leaned over and picked something up. Too late, he realized what it was. The sneakers Megan had left at his house after that night.

That one painful, glorious night. The bruises she left on him had lasted for almost two weeks, but the aftershocks of that night stayed with him far longer. And when she at last acquiesced to his demand that she leave before he could damage her further, it was almost 4 am. He'd taken her three times more, each time feeling himself falling further into that trap he'd set for himself. She left smelling of sex and bearing marks all over her tender body. He'd been rough each time, with a brutality that was primitive and savage. And she had not complained or pushed him away. And each time he found his own brand of painful bliss.

Who said love didn't hurt?

Quatre's voice brought him sharply back to reality. "So she has been here."

"She left those here…"

"Shut up, just shut the fuck up." The curse was venomous in it's intensity. Wufei watched in disbelief as Quatre dropped the shoes on Wufei's unmade bed and moved to the dresser, wrenching open drawers. "What else? What else do you have of hers? Hunh? Clothes, pictures…" He methodically ripped the contents from the drawers, flinging neatly pressed t-shirts and pants over the room disregarding Wufei, who stood gaping at him.

He at last stopped when he pulled open Wufei's sock drawer. Wufei's innate embarrassment at this obvious violation of his privacy was squashed promptly by outrage as Quatre lifted something and studied it carefully. The blond man spun to hold up a white camisole top for him to see, his face set in a hard sneer. "What's this?"

Wufei's heart sank in realization of what his friend held. "It's a shirt." His voice was cold, steady.

"It's a women's shirt, more specifically one of Megan's." Quatre balled up the shirt and threw it at Wufei. Wufei did not move under his friend's assault. "Trowa bought it for her birthday."

He turned back to the drawers, and wrenched open the next one. Wufei's eyes widened. He bolted forward. "That's enough, Quatre. That's enough." He grasped Quatre by the wrist, but not before the other man gave a shocked gasp. He roughly pushed Wufei off him, sending him tumbling to the floor.

"You disgust me." Quatre's voice was unrecognizable as he shook the item at him. He snorted. "You keep prizes of all your escapades? Or are these hers too?"

Wufei did not answer as he remained where he was, face aflame.

Quatre's face contorted as he threw the underwear on the bed with the shoes. "You bastard."

x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x

Quatre cold feel his blood boiling as he stared at Wufei. Suddenly everything clicked into place. Megan had been here. Her clothing was in Wufei's drawers, freshly laundered and waiting for her return. It was as though the other man expected something. But Megan had barely left the house in over 2 months. So it had been at least two months since she'd had any contact with Wufei. Two months… It suddenly made sense. The strange sickness that came and went at the oddest times of the day. Megan eating bananas for breakfast. His daughter hated bananas with a passion. She was pale, sick. A new development.

Her appointment with Sally had upset her enough that she'd disappeared. It was now painfully obvious to him why he'd felt such conflicting emotions from her. It wasn't only her he'd been feeling. He lunged for Wufei, hand reaching for the pistol holstered in the waistband of his pants at the small of his back. Wufei found himself pressed tightly against the floor, Quatre's gun pressed to his temple. Quatre's voice was coldly detached as he spoke. "You raped my child."

"What?" Wufei's voice did not betray any fear, if indeed he felt any. He struggled to free his hands from beneath Quatre's knees. Quatre disengaged the safety on the gun and watched as Wufei squirmed beneath him.

He was surprised by the sudden movement as he found himself tilted backwards and the pistol knocked from his grasp to skitter across the hardwood floor, disappearing beneath the bed. He'd forgotten how fast Wufei could move.

He punched wildly at the other man, taking the opening Wufei let him. His fist connected with Wufei's head with a sickening crack. Pain rocketed through Quatre's chest. He hated fighting with his friends, feeling their pain was always the worst part. He hadn't gotten into a fist fight with Wufei in years.

He swung wildly again, but found his fist caught smoothly. Wufei spoke harshly. "Stop, Quatre. Just stop it, let me speak."

"Why? So you can defend your actions, you cradle-robbing rapist?"

"Stop. I will not say it again and I will not allow you to insult me with such slanderous nonsense in my own home." The words were laced with frustration and Quatre could feel the desperation coming off his life-long friend. He felt his own anger recede a little, enough that he was able to focus on the man who pinned him down.

His voice was now his own, and not the unrecognizable thing he'd heard only moments before. He could hear his own grief and fear as he spoke. "There's nothing you can say that can make this any different, Wufei."

Wufei, now assured there would be no more physical attacks loosened his grip on Quatre's fist, still holding him firmly, but no longer painfully. "You're right. I can't defend myself. And yes, I did sleep with Megan."

The admission rocketed through Quatre, sealing what he had figured out moments before. Wufei continued. "I didn't plan it, and it was a mistake. I realized it almost immediately, but the action was sealed by then. But I certainly did not rape Megan. She came to me. Do you hear me? She offered herself to me. I was drunk and not exactly thinking clearly. By the time I was in control of my senses it was damn near four in the morning. She left and I have not seen or spoken to her since. You have got to believe me, Quatre."

Wufei's regret pervaded Quatre's heart. He knew that his friend was genuinely contrite. He remained silent. "I didn't want to hurt her. That was never my intention, that's why I've stayed away. I don't know why you're here in the middle of the night tearing my home apart and threatening my life, but you're obviously not in your right mind. Whatever Megan's told you, it may be her opinion of what happened, but I did not rape her. She consented quite clearly. I gave her multiple chances to stop what was happening, she took none of them. Now will you kindly tell me why you think she's here?"

"If you let me up, we'll talk."

"Like adults?" Wufei's remark was barbed. "Without firearms?"

"Yes." Quatre muttered darkly.

Wufei was off him immediately, standing over him, extending a hand to help him up. Quatre wasn't ready to forgive him yet. He may not have forced Megan, but he'd certainly behaved badly. Quatre pushed his hand away and rose on his own. "You swear you haven't spoken to her, or seen her."

"Yes. I swear it. I've never lied to you, and I'm not going to start now. What's going on?"

Quatre stared angrily at his friend. "Megan's been sick. She went to see Sally this morning and never came home. She hasn't called. She's just disappeared."

Wufei frowned. "Can't you find her with your… thing?"

"My empathy?" Quatre snorted. Wufei nodded. The blond man shook his head. "It doesn't work like that. It's not a radar. It's only emotions. And no, I can't feel her anymore. She's not dead because I'd have felt her die. But she'd not there at all either."

"Was she horribly ill?" Wufei asked, his concern radiating off him like a beacon.

Quatre pushed down his natural urge to comfort his friend. "I'm not sure. Sally refuses to tell me what was going on, but I think I understand it all now. I'm going to Duo and Heero's next. I'm going to have Duo get me the answers I need."

"How?" Wufei's eyes narrowed.

Quatre's smile was bitter. "By any means necessary. Personally I think it would be easiest to break into her office and just look at the files. But I'm not as good with that as Duo is. He's our resident lock-picker."

"This is not a wise idea." Wufei intoned seriously.

"No, perhaps not." Quatre drew himself to his full height. "But then again it wasn't a wise idea to fuck my daughter either was it? After all, look where that got us."

He turned on heel and strode from the room, letting himself out of the apartment.

x x x x x x x x x x x x

Wufei listened to the front door shut behind the irate Arabian and sank onto the foot of his bed. Sleep would elude him for the rest of the night, he had too much to digest, too much to think about.


	5. Resolution

A/N It just occurred to me that the link to my media mine account isn't working. I will be uploading chapter 3 in it's original format (lemon intact) on my website. The URL is www . heidimcvay .com / promises3

Please enjoy, and once again, my apologies for the long wait.

Promises

Chapter 5

Duo glanced at the clock on the wall over the receptionists desk. 5;45 in the morning. He suppressed a groan and set to work on the lock to Sally's office. "Damn Quatre and his overprotective ass."

He'd been hauled abruptly out of bed by his friend, who was steaming at the ears after an apparent confrontation with Wufei. Quatre had all but demanded that he go immediately to the Women's Clinic that Sally worked at part time and retrieve Megan's file. Duo had grimaced but assented after Quatre explained to him what he'd discovered at Wufei's apartment.

Duo had been sufficiently pissed off enough to overlook the breaking and entering to agree, though with protest. He had half an hour to get in, locate the file, copy it and get out. He'd deactivated the alarm easily enough, it being one of his own design. With a little luck, he'd be out in 10 minutes. The lock clicked beneath his hands and the door swung inward with only a nudge. Duo glanced out the window, pleased to find that it faced a courtyard. He moved around to the desk and flipped on the desk lamp, first flipping through the files stacked neatly on the compulsively neat Sally Po's desk. Sure enough Megan's was third from the top. He grinned to himself and chuckled. "Damn, I'm good."

He flipped through it, finding the test done the previous day with relative ease. He did not have time to copy the entire file, it covered most of Megan's life. He found the notes and tests from the previous day and studied them for a moment. Most of the gibberish meant nothing to him. The blood tests however, were slightly more discernable. She'd been tested for just about every illness Sally could dream up. He muttered to himself as he ran a finger down the list. "HIV negative. HGC positive. T-cell count good. Negative for STD's… What on earth?" He shook his head and studied the list again before it sank it. The only result that seemed unusual was the HGC levels. Understanding dawned on him in a flash. "Holy Fuck! She's pregnant."

He moved from the desk and copied the single page with that result on it, then left, carefully making sure to cover his tracks. Quatre waited, parked in the rear at the service entry at the back of the building. Duo dropped into the passenger seat and buckled his seatbelt.

Quatre pulled out smoothly, guiding the car wordlessly until they pulled into the parking lot of a fast food place. He at last glanced over at Duo, his expression anxious. "Did you find it?"

"Yeah." Duo reached into the pocket of the lightweight black jacket he's worn and pulled the baseball cap off his head, letting his braid fall over his shoulder and into his lap. He extracted the single sheet and passed it to Quatre.

The blond man blinked. "Do not tell me we came all the way uptown so you could commit a felony and only get one paper."

"It's the only one we need. Trust me on this, man." Duo turned his head to stare out the window as he waited for Quatre to interpret the jumble of jargon on the page.

After a long moment his friend cursed softly beneath his breath. "That's what I thought." The paper was folded carefully, creased, then folded again before being tucked into Quatre's vest pocket. "She's pregnant."

"It looks that way." Duo answered softly.

"And Wufei's the father."

"Yeah."

There was silence for another moment. "We have to find her, Duo."

"Yeah, I know." Duo fell silent for a brief moment before he grimaced. "Trowa's going to shit a brick, isn't he?"

Quatre's jaw flexed. "He's going to upset. Very upset. Especially when he finds out what happened between her and Wufei. Duo, we have to find her." He repeated, desperation seeping into his voice. "She's going to be so scared."

"Scared… that makes sense." Duo turned back to regard Quatre sympathetically. He rested a reassuring hand on Quatre's arm. "We'll find her, I promise you. Between the five of us, we'll find her in no time."

"Four of us." Quatre corrected. "I don't want Wufei involved. He's done enough damage. We're going to find her and bring her home and then she's never going to see him again. I'm not going to let him hurt her ever again."

Duo worried at his lower lip. He didn't bother telling Quatre that it was inconceivable that Wufei would take kindly to that order. Or that Megan would either. "After Wufei finds out, he'll go after her you know."

"He won't find out." Teal eyes landed on him, blazing with repressed fury. "Wufei will never find out he's the father of this child. He will never know because no one is going to tell him she's pregnant. I'll send Megan to L4 and she can have the baby there. After it's born Trowa and I will adopt it and raise it as our own."

Duo narrowed his eyes. Quatre was way to calm. His voice emotionless. "Megan won't fight me. I won't let her. She will be free to pursue her life as she should. Someday, she'll get married and have more children. Then she'll understand. When she's a parent, she'll understand that there was no other way. Besides, Wufei deserves it."

"Deserves what?" Duo frowned.

Quatre's lips thinned into a bitter smile. "He deserves to be hurt as badly as Megan has."

Duo shook his head. "I don't know about this. Revenge isn't like you and plus it isn't your place to judge either of them, Quatre."

"That's enough Duo. You worry about your own children and let me worry about mine." Quatre's tone clearly defined the end of the conversation. He started the car again and backed out of the parking space, turning in the direction of home.

X x x x x x x x x x x x X

It had been 3 days since she'd arrived in Beijing. In the last three days, she'd kept to the hotel room, depending on room service and the bathroom sink to launder her clothes. She pushed herself out of the bed and reached for the remote control, turning the TV on as she moved to the chair. For three straight days she had done nothing but sleep, pray and cry. She had no set plan, no idea how one went about starting a new life. It was horribly depressing, she realized, having no one and nothing left. She hadn't even brought her laptop, her prized possession. It was a beautifully crafted piece of machinery customized for her by Heero on the day of her 17th birthday. How long ago it all seemed now. How horribly complicated it was now.

She flipped off the hotel menu channel to the English language CNN12 station. To her horror, her picture appeared in a small box next to the broadcasters head. She turned up the volume and listened with a sinking heart as he reported her disappearance.

"The oldest daughter of Quatre and Trowa Barton-Winner was reported missing yesterday. Megan Noelle Hanahan-Barton-Winner is the oldest daughter of WEI President and CEO Quatre Barton-Winner and his husband of 15 years, Trowa Barton Winner. Miss Hanahan is reported to have disappeared from the Manhattan area 3 days ago. Sources close to the family have revealed that she may have left of her own volition due to unknown circumstances. Quatre Barton-Winner made a short appearances before cameras this morning from his home outside New York City. Here's what he had to say."

The screen changed to show the image of her fathers, both of them pale and haggard. Megan began trembling as she listened to Quatre's soft voice. He was strained and visibly on the verge of exhaustion. "I'd like to keep this as short as possible, for the sake of my family's privacy." He lifted his eyes from the gathered reporters to look into the camera. "Megan, if you're watching this Trowa and I need to know that you are safe and well. Please contact us, even if it's only a phone call or via e-mail. We want you to know that we are doing everything we can to find you and we will leave no stone unturned to have you back with us, safe at home where you belong. If anyone out there has any information, we urge you to please step forward and help us in our search for our daughter. We thank you for your effort and cooperation in this difficult time."

Quatre stepped back. Catherine appeared in the picture next, her arm around her brother-in-law as she shooed away the reporters. "No, no questions. You have your statement, now leave them be."

Megan bit her lower lips as the picture changed. She turned the television off and stared at it in stony silence. Never had she seen her fathers so distraught, not even when Reenie broke her leg last fall. Briefly she toyed with the idea of calling them. But she knew the security measures would pinpoint her almost instantly. No doubt the Preventers had set up camp in their home and were screening all incoming calls. Heero would definitely have set up a tracking program on all her e-mail and financial accounts. It would only be a matter of time before someone recognized her with her distinctive hair and eye color.

All thoughts of contact were pushed aside as she rose from the chair. It was time to leave her old life behind, forever. She knew the basics of avoiding detection. After all, the identities in her packet had been set up by Duo, he'd also taught her how to elude potential kidnappers for long periods of time. She could live quite comfortably on the large amount she'd withdrawn from her account for several months at least. She moved to the bathroom and gathered up the few items she'd purchased at the airport, mostly toiletries, and packed the backpack she'd gotten at the same time. She was moving on.

X x x x x x x x x x x x x x x X

24 hours later, Megan stepped off the bus at her final destination. Before her stood a small inn, barely more than a tavern with a few room to rent out to passing travelers. Xie-Tai was not even a dot on a map. It was, quite literally, the ends of the earth for her.

Megan ran a hand through her freshly-cut hair and pushed the sunglasses up on her head. It had hurt to cut her hair so short, barely grazing her ears, and have it chemically straightened. She'd also dyed it that same obsequious shade of black that was so prevalent here in China. Through less than legal means, she'd obtained a pair of flat brown contact lenses. Her new identity was that of Anja Zhang. She was now a Chinese-American who had come to Xie-Tai after the unfortunate death her husband. She fingered the band on her left hand, the same one she'd worn around her neck for so many years. She'd put the necklace back on, now bearing Wufei's ring.

She smiled bitterly as she mentally gave Duo props for clueing her in on how to set up a new identity so readily by asking the right questions of the right people. Anja was not from her packet, no, she was a creation of Megan's own. Anja was who she felt like. A stranger in a foreign land who'd had everything ripped away from her. And the loss of her old life was a grief she felt as acutely as Anja's supposed grief of losing her beloved husband. The details were different, but it was essentially the truth.

Megan gripped her newly acquired suitcase and entered the inn, moving brusquely to the counter in the foyer. She silently thanked Wufei, at least he'd given her one positive thing in their tumultuous farce of a relationship. A fluent command of the language of the region. It was thanks to him that she was able to speak both Mandarin and Cantonese.

A stooped old woman read the paper by the light of the mid-afternoon sun streaming into through the window. Megan cleared her throat lightly and waited to be addressed.

The woman raised her eyes and gazed at her steadily, apprising her appearance carefully. Megan prayed she would pass inspection. She wore the customary white of a woman in mourning. Her face was free of makeup and she wore no jewelry save for the necklace and the ring on her finger. The woman nodded perfunctorily. "Yes?"

Megan moderated her voice carefully, slipping into the calm cadence of Anja's voice. "My name is Zhang Anja. I was told you could rent me a room for a while."

"How long do you need it for?" The woman's manner was abrupt, but not rude.

To her surprise, Megan found herself instantly liking her no nonsense mannerisms. "Until I can find a place in the village. No more than 2 weeks."

"Where are you from?"

"America." Megan replied just as shortly, not caring to elaborate.

The woman nodded again. "You speak the language well."

"My husband taught me." She responded with a brief blush. She did not know why she thought of Wufei when she said that. He wasn't her husband, never would be.

The woman frowned. "You are in mourning?" She lowered her newspaper and leaned forward, studying Megan more closely. "And with child. Is it the child of your late husband?"

Megan nodded, stunned that she'd seen something that was barely there, not even a bump yet.

The woman's expression changed to one of sympathy. "I have a room. No drinking, no smoking inside, no overnight visitors. I run a respectable place for respectable people."

"I understand. Thank you for your kindness." She bowed deeply.

The woman rose from the wooden stool she'd occupied. "Come, I will show you the room. You may call me Mrs. Wang."

Megan followed her up the narrow staircase to the second floor. The woman unlocked the door and stepped inside, gesturing to Megan to follow. The room was simply furnished, with a single bed, a desk, dresser and small TV.

Mrs. Wang watched as she lowered her bags to the floor. She spoke again, her tone softer. "It's not much, but it is clean. Breakfast is served promptly at 8 am. Lunch you'll have to get on your own. Dinner is served in the tavern from 6-8 pm. No loud music. Telephone is at the front desk for local calls only. The temple is at the far end of town, a 10 minute walk if you need to pray. Do you have any questions?"

"No, thank you."

The woman turned to go, turning a moment to give a respectful bow. "My condolences on your bereavement, Mrs. Zhang."

"Thank you."

"You have 2 hours if you wish to nap before dinner. I will ring the bell when it is time."

"Thank you." Megan repeated quietly.

Mrs. Wan left, shutting the door softly behind her. Megan sank onto the bed and sighed heavily. The activity of the last few days were catching up to her. She was exhausted and only wanted a hot bath and to sleep. She forced herself to focus, she only had a few hours before she could sleep as long as she wanted. She quickly unpacked the meager wardrobe she'd brought with her. She'd bought only a few things, enough to last until she could get settled in somewhere. It was astonishing to her to think that suddenly her keen fashion sense and near-obsession with her appearance had become meaningless in just a few short days. The clothing she'd bought in her brief stopover in Hong Kong was all white. The color of mourning according to Chinese custom. She'd decided that she should dress the part if she was to take on Anja's life for now. She hoped she'd gone far enough not to be found.

Even now, she wasn't sure how long she needed to be away, maybe forever. But at least long enough to get her head on straight. Thinking was a thing of the past. She had taken action, and now had to get through. She unzipped the pocket of the basic black suitcase and withdrew the envelope with her money in it. She counted it carefully, pleased to find that she had enough to last a while. When she'd asked the shady character who'd prepared her new papers about a place where she could live cheaply and simply, he'd smiled wistfully and said, "The country. It is where I would go to disappear."

She'd taken his advice and booked a ticket out of Hong Kong by ferry, then traveled to the far north of the country via charter plane before finally taking a bus to the tiny village she now found herself in. The modern world seemed to have left this place behind. It was literally, one of thousands of villages that dotted the Chinese countryside in the north.

Megan smiled to herself, her heart was not as heavy as it had been yesterday. She'd consoled herself with a final indulgent dinner in Hong Kong's finest restaurant before she left for her self-imposed place of exile.

The feeling of loss was not as prevalent at this moment. She had a mission. She needed to find a place to live. She had to find a job. And she had to focus on the new life growing inside her. It was the thought of her child that drove her on in those dark moments in Beijing when she wanted to turn tail and run back home. She could give her child a better life. One free of all the chaos that would surely ensue if Wufei ever found out. She could give her child all the love in the world. All the love that she had ever felt for Wufei would be channeled to this tiny person she'd be holding in just a few months. In the spring. It was appropriate that she would give birth in the spring. The ironies of it did not elude her.

Her old life was dead even as a new one was beginning. No… two new lives. She rested her hand on her still flat stomach, indulging in a rare moment without worry, only pure contentment. A new beginning, starting now.


	6. Resignation

A/N Please remember, reviews are loved, flames are used to light bonfires. J

Promises

Chapter 6

Heero had been working at it for two straight weeks now. He was on the verge of exhaustion. He'd gone days without sleep until he passed out from sheer weariness. It was now eight pm on day 15. He'd been monitoring any and all communication from Quatre and Trowa's as well as their own home. He'd tapped into the server for the e-mail program he knew Megan favored. He'd even hacked into her bank accounts. All he knew for sure was that she'd withdrew a huge chunk of cash from her primary checking account, almost wiping it out. Her other accounts had been left untouched.

He was now deeply involved in tracing that last name on the list of fake Ids that Do had set up for Megan in case of an emergency. There was absolutely no activity on the credit cards for any of them.

They had no leads. Megan, it would appear, was a quick study from years of watching Duo repeatedly update her emergency packet. Her car had been located a week ago in the long term parking of Peacecraft International Airport. Her keys had been left under the mat on the driver's side. The only thing missing was the packet that contained ten preset ID's. Complete with visas for any number of countries or colonies, passports, driver's licenses, credit cards and a large amount of cash for each identity.

The search through all channels was literally like looking for a needle in a haystack. Megan, smart cookie that she was, most likely hadn't used the ID's. She knew enough to make the appropriate contacts and set up her own. She wouldn't blithely use something she knew they could track. He'd argued with Duo about the insanity of it until he'd finally relented to search all possibilities. It was a waste of precious time as far as Heero was concerned. He was now on the last name on the list, and still hadn't found anything.

He lowered his head to the surface of the desk as he activated the search for any sign of Kiseki Bloom. Heero was growing disheartened with his inability to find anything that would help them find the missing girl. He wouldn't find anything, just as he hadn't found anything for the last 15 days.

It seemed he'd barely closed his eyes when he heard a beeping. He groped for the alarm clock, then remembered he wasn't in bed. Blearily he rubbed at his eyes as he glanced at the clock on the laptop. 11:30 pm. He'd slept nearly 4 hours. He cursed to himself and forced his sleepy eyes to focus on the screen. The program was beeping in response to a hit. Or rather several hits. He'd found something.

Heero released a whoop of joy as his body automatically went into battle mode, instantly fully awake. He scanned the results, surprised to find that he had four results.

"Duo! Duo, wake up!" He called to his spouse, who was snoring obliviously on the battered couch in their mutual study.

The braided man was instantly on his feet. "What did you find?"

"You were right, Megan did use one of her aliases."

Duo crowed in delight. "See, I told you it wasn't a waste of time."

"Just hold on. I've found four hits on the name Kiseki Bloom." Heero moved his mouse over the window, scrolling down. "She purchased a ticket on a flight bound for Beijing the same day she disappeared."

"That was 15 days ago." Duo groaned and sank back into the couch. "She'd have discarded the name long ago."

"Will you just calm down. Geez, you're worse than Quatre with the whining." Heero studied the list again. "She stayed at the Royal Dragon Hotel in the financial district of the city and checked out 3 days after she arrived. I've also found another flight ticket purchased the day she checked out bound for Moscow. An emergency visa was issued by the Russian consulate in Beijing at 3:43 pm local time."

"So she's in Russia?"

Heero scratched the stubble on his chin thoughtfully. "I don't know. It depends. She checked in for the flight, and her name is on the passenger manifest so it's possible she did go."

"Yes." Duo shot off the couch and danced happily around the room.

The Japanese man held up a hand in warning. "Don't celebrate yet. It's also possible she may have used that as a decoy to throw us off. She could still be anywhere."

"But we found something." Duo retorted cheekily. "I'll call Quatre."

"No, we'll go over there." Heero hit the print command and rose from the seat, stretching until his spine gave a satisfying crack.

Duo grabbed the papers before they had time to hit the tray. "At least it's news. She was alive as of 11 days ago. I'll book a flight to Beijing, do some legwork and see what I can come up with."

"I think that would be the next logical step, there's just one problem." Heero snorted dryly.

"Oh yeah? And what's that?"

"You don't speak Mandarin or Cantonese. I think that we should have Une take care of it for us. There's a Preventer's branch in Beijing. She can have someone on it in less time that it would take you to book that flight." Heero approached his husband and laced his arms around Duo's waist. He pressed a gentle kiss on Duo's nose. "Settle down, babe. We'll find here. It's just going to take a little longer than we thought."

"I don't know how much longer Quatre can drive himself like this though, Heero." Duo's voice was suddenly serious as he leaned into his lover's embrace. "I'm worried for him."

"We all are." Heero hugged him tightly. "Let's get going. I think Quatre won't mind us coming unannounced."

X x x x x x x x x x x x x X

Wufei had arrived in Beijing tired, hungry and very upset. Une had been less than thrilled when he'd demanded to take his leave. All of it. At once. He had all told, over 2 years of sick leave and vacation time saved up after so long at the same job. He'd been aware that the others were purposefully excluding him from their exhaustive efforts to find Megan. He, however, was not about to take the pointed lack of contact lying down. He'd launched his own inquiries, taking more traditional routes than his former comrades. He knew that they would be focused on tracking Megan's movements via electronic means.

He, on the other hand, chose a more physical approach. He'd personally gone to every travel agency in Manhattan with a recent photo of Megan. He'd found the agency she'd used easily enough, it was the third one he visited. He found out from there that she'd taken a flight to Beijing under and assumed name. Once he'd flashed his badge he'd had the name of the hotel she'd also had the agent book as well as a deeply discounted fare to the same destination leaving later that same day. He wasn't the Preventer's best agent for nothing.

Megan had checked out of the hotel a scant 3 days after her arrival. He knew she'd arrived with nothing but the clothes on her back. Knowing her tastes, he'd hit the upscale stores. But his search yielded nothing. He'd found the salon she'd visited and managed to bribe an updated description from the diminutive hairstylist. He now knew she'd had everything possible done to herself to change her appearance.

The stylist had been obliging enough to visit with a sketch artist, who'd put together a composite of the new Megan. He knew now, what she looked like, at least for the time being. It comforted him to know that short of shaving her head, there wasn't much more she could do to change her appearance.

Megan was still in China. He knew that much for certain. It was either China or Japan, given the black hair and straightening treatment she'd paid a small fortune to have done. Megan had a distinct dislike of the Japanese language, using it only when she had to. Too many verbs, she'd told him once. She wouldn't voluntarily go to a place where she had to be around the language. China was the next logical option.

As far as he was concerned, he'd find her. He only needed the information. He'd tracked her as far as Beijing, which was an advantage as far as he was concerned. She didn't know he was after her. He was the last person she would be expecting to see when he did find her. No matter how long it took, he'd search. After all… surely it wouldn't take two whole years to find one Caucasian female in a country of conformists.

X x x x x x x x x x x x x x x X

She stood with her hands on her hips and surveyed the tiny room. She'd found the house, well… more of a cottage really, through the local grapevine. An elderly woman was moving to the city to live with her son and his new wife. She needed to sell the place.

Megan had paid her a visit and shared a cup of tea and several hours of conversation with the woman. In the end, they'd come to an amicable arrangement. Megan paid a fair price for the house and the tiny patch of garden behind it. It wasn't much, but it was enough. For a small amount extra, the woman had left the furnishings and most of her household items. She wouldn't need them in Hong Kong, she'd said. She'd patted Megan on the cheek affectionately when Megan had shared the reason, the lie, as to why she was searching for a place on her own.

"Such a dear heart, to be so brave. Such a pity to have suffered so much." And then to Megan's distinct surprise, she'd placed her hand over her stomach and smiled mysteriously. "At least you will have the little one to comfort you in the coming years. And you're young yet, you may still find a new love."

That was the second time someone had known of her pregnancy. After she'd returned to the inn for the afternoon, she'd stared at herself naked in the mirror for a long while. She couldn't see any visible changes to her body. Her stomach was still flat, her breasts the same size, though they were tender. She was now 12 weeks pregnant. Three months. Her first trimester was over. The morning sickness had eased a bit, leaving her with the strangest cravings at the oddest times of the day. She mostly craved fruit. Megan usually hated fruit.

She frowned as she realized she was holding a peeled banana. She took a bite of it and chewed thoughtfully as she studied her new home more closely. The main living area was one room. There was one miniscule bedroom upstairs with an attached sitting area that looked out over the vegetable garden.

The bottom floor was simply, but comfortably furnished. A couch and rocking chair faced a wood burning fireplace. The floors were bamboo, worn and polished from generations of bare feet passing over them. The kitchen was small but functional. She'd have to learn to cook for herself. She no longer had the use of a gourmet chef at her disposal. Until now she'd taken all her meals at the inn or the small café in the middle of the village. She had to admit, for being in the middle of rural China, the man who ran the place made a mean decaf latte.

The battered wooden table, scarred from years of use, contained a bowl of fresh fruit, her touch. The earthenware bowl had been her sole touch that made the first floor seem more her own. Her laptop, a generic Japanese import she'd purchased in Hong Kong before her arrival here, sat open and waiting her attention.

She moved to the stairs and made her way up to the bedroom. From the doorway, she surveyed the contents carefully. The bed was a double, a far cry from the king sized monstrosity she was used to back in the States. On closer inspection, she'd been surprised to find it was a rope bed. She hadn't thought they existed outside the Smithsonian. The old woman had told Megan, with no small touch of pride, that he long dead husband had fashioned it for their first anniversary. The mattress was a simple feather affair Megan had yet to test out. The woman had given her detailed instructions on the care of the mattress, from cleaning to fluffing.

The room contained no closet, but did have a single armoire she was using to store her meager collection of clothes and newly acquired bed linens. The sitting room was attached with only a small partitioning wall to separate it. It would be perfect for the baby. The thought had startled Megan at first. More and more she was thinking of the coming child as more of a human life and less of a foreign object growing inside her.

Megan took another bite from her banana and moved to the sitting area, taking a seat in the home's second rocking chair. The bookcase was low, taking up the area beneath the window. It was still filled with volumes of leather-bound poetry and philosophy. She hadn't yet examined the collection, but from the writing on the spine knew it contained many things that would please her naturally insatiable curiosity and thirst for knowledge. The previous owner had taken only a few with her, journals her husband had kept for years. They were for her son, she'd said. The rest Megan could keep. She did not read much anymore with her failing eyesight. Megan had protested, citing the obvious value of the aged books. The woman had merely smiled and shook her head, firm in her resolve.

Megan had purchased several quilts made by a local woman as well as new linens for the bed. She'd made it promptly, not having much else to do. The new pillows were clad in simple white cotton sheets. It was comfortable, if a little bare of any personal touches. That would come in time. After all, Anja liked different things than Megan's more expensive tastes for silk and Egyptian cotton. Anja would like flowers… Megan thought idly.

She chuckled to herself as she briefly wondered if she were losing her mind in these first few hours by herself. She was thinking of Anja as if she were real, merely occupying the same body. It was strangely comforting, to think of her fictional self in that manner, as another person. At least she didn't feel so alone. Anja was innately good, something the Megan was far from. Anja would not be afraid to be by herself. After all, she would soon have her own little family. Megan on the other hand, was terrified. Perhaps Megan could learn a thing or two about courage from Anja. After all, she was Anja now. It wouldn't do for her to become any person other than Anja.

X X X X X X X X X X X X X

Trowa paced the living room as he listened with half an ear to the theories that his friends and spouse were coming up with. It had been a rough couple of weeks on all of them. None of them had eaten or slept properly since Megan had disappeared. Finding her car at the airport had merely confirmed that she'd left alone. The Preventers had apologetically withdraw their assistance after the discovery of surveillance video of Megan walking through the airport of her own volition. She had violated no laws in using a false identity, nor could she be classified as a runaway since she was legally of age.

Unofficially, Une was calling in every favor she had at her disposal. But on the record, there was nothing she could do. Quatre had fumed for days about the pulling out. He'd even gone so far as to call in the entire Maguanac Corps, bringing Rashid back from his political duties on L4 as an ambassador. Amala had left school and joined them at the large estate, determined to be of assistance any way she could.

Quatre had divulged only to Trowa and Heero of their discovery concerning Megan's pregnancy. Trowa had been absolutely livid to find out that Wufei could have violated his oldest child in such a way. Megan was of age, yes, but that hardly made her an adult. She'd grown up much more conventionally than either he or Quatre had, and as such she'd had everything provided for her. Why did she feel as though she couldn't come to them?

"Hey, Tro?" Duo's voice was concerned. The braided man snapped his fingers in front of Trowa's eyes from where he'd come to stand in front of him.

"Yeah, sorry Duo. What did you say?" Trowa's voice was only slightly apologetic.

Duo repeated his question. "Do you want me to go to Beijing?"

Trowa glanced to Quatre who was watching him wearily. One look at his spouse told him what he already knew. Quatre was tired beyond coherency. Trowa shook his head. "Not yet. Megan won't be there. She's smart, but so long as her life isn't in danger, she won't do anything so rash as actually go to Moscow knowing we can track her down there. I think the best thing to do is wait until she slips up."

"But Trowa!" Quatre interrupted.

Trowa held up a hand. "Quatre, I can understand that you don't want to hesitate following any possible lead. But you need to be realistic here. Megan obviously doesn't want to be found. And she's the child of two Gundam Pilots. She had the rest of us training her on how to be a chameleon since she hit thirteen. She can shoot straight and she can bluff her way out of any situation. But on the flip side of that, she's also a novice at changing her identity, she's bound to slip up and when she does, we'll catch it."

"But what if she contacts Wufei? Trowa, the entire plan could be ruined." Quatre's stress was now agitating even Trowa's temporarily calmed mind.

"That's just a chance we'll have to take. But I don't think she will. She didn't say anything to him. She left not only us, but him too. Don't you think that having her away from him is best, even if takes her from us as well?"

"No! Not at that cost." Quatre lunged from his seat and fisted his hands at his side. "I want my daughter back. Safe… not later… now. I don't want to wait and smoke her out."

Trowa gritted his teeth. "Quatre, I swear if you don't calm the fuck down right the instant, I'm going to have Sally come over here and give you a sedative."

"You wouldn't." The seemingly-fragile blond stared at his husband in disbelief.

The taller man stood toe to toe with him. "You want to test me, Quatre? Do you really want to test me? My patience is running thin with you as it is. You're obsessed with finding Megan to the point that the other children are feeling it as well. And not just the ones with empathy. They need you right now, to reassure them. All you do is make them more uneasy with the constant carrying on. Feel free to lose it in private, but this breaking down has to stop sometime. I'm not trying to be callous. I miss Megan and I'm just as worried for her as you are. But she made a choice, Quatre. We have to respect that."

"What are you saying, Trowa? That we should give up?" Quatre's volume increased with each word.

"No. Don't put words into my mouth, Quatre. That's not what I'm saying at all and you know it. I'm saying that we should stop approaching this as if a baby had wandered off in the supermarket. Call off the hounds. For crying out loud, Love, you have literally hundreds of man hours going into this every single day. You haven't rocked any of the triplets in days. And it's been even longer since you spent any time with the others. You have got to face reality. She's gone, Quat. And she's not coming back until she's good and ready." Trowa's face twisted with the harsh reality he knew he was demanding his spouse face, the reality he was demanding they all face.

Duo's voice was quiet. "Trowa, dude, calm down a notch."

"No, I've had enough. I've stayed silent for weeks. Quatre, WEI isn't going to run itself. And my book, it isn't going to write itself. And the kids? Well, they aren't going to raise themselves either. Life HAS to go on. Megan wouldn't want that." He stepped forward and cupped Quatre's face in his hands.

Quatre twisted from him violently. "I will NOT put business before my family. And if you're willing to, then maybe I never knew you."

"That's enough, both of you." Heero, ever the voice of reason these days, interjected. "Trowa, you're going too far, and… he really does have a valid point. Are you aware that none of your school aged children have attended class in 2 weeks?"

The blond man whirled on Heero, white knuckled from trying to contain his temper, then stopped suddenly as his friend's words sunk in. "Two whole weeks?" His voice was suddenly calm again, tinged with disbelief. "Have I really let it go that long?"

"Yes, you have." Heero replied. "And WEI… the stocks have dipped by 7 points since this started."

Quatre's eyes widened. "Seven…"

Trowa watched as his husband's eyes slid shut. Quatre's empathic aura was now somewhat calmer, no longer tinged with the near blood-thirsty rage he'd felt moments earlier. Quatre drew in a shaky breath. "I'll issue a statement to the press tomorrow. I'll return to the office on Monday. I swear that if we don't have any more leads by then, I'll pull off the Maguanac Corps and leave Heero and Duo on it. Is that a suitable compromise, Trowa?"

Trowa stepped forward again and put his hands on Quatre's shoulders, drawing his lover into a tight embrace. "More than fair. We won't stop looking, never. But we do have to carry on, for the kids sake as well as our own."

Quatre's breathing was muffled in Trowa's shirt as he sobbed. He caught Heero's eye as the Japanese man rose from the sofa, taking Duo's hand. "We'll see ourselves out."

Trowa nodded and hugged Quatre tightly, guiding him to the couch. It took almost an hour, but at last Quatre cried himself into a restless sleep. The first real sleep he'd had since Megan disappeared that wasn't the result of passing out in exhaustion. Not long afterward, Trowa joined him.

X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X


	7. Hell

A/N- We're trucking right along. This story seems a bit shorter than SP, but that's only because the chapters are longer. Cuteness does not pervade this one. Sorry folks, if you're disappointed.

Promises

Chapter 7

Four months later found Megan hunched over the table of her tiny cottage, staring blankly at the screen of her laptop. She'd written, for the first time on her own, a novel. It had amazed her how quickly it had come out. It had taken less than 3 months to completely finish the work, then another month to edit it. She found it odd that she worked as quickly on her own as she did with her father. He had a systematic way of writing. He planned everything out with an outline, down to the last fist fight.

Megan's style was far freer. She played with her characters, letting them do what they wanted with no interference from her, save the occasion spelling correction. She'd proudly showed Mrs. Wang that finished manuscript, surprised when the woman had actually smiled at her in approval. Megan had obtained work with the elderly innkeeper, doing the light cleaning and laundry 4 times a week in the inn and tavern. It wasn't glamorous work, but it kept food on the table. Megan's nest egg was no longer so healthy after her purchases for the baby in the nearest town after her last OB-GYN visit.

Megan lived frugally. Mrs. Wang had given her a crash course in canning vegetables in the fall when her garden gave up it's rather surprisingly large crop of food. Rice was plentiful, and cheap. And she had enough pickled plums to last another 6 months. Pickled plums, plum jams, plum puddings. Megan had had enough of plums to last a lifetime. Meat was a rare event these days. She had rationed her money to the point where she did have chicken once a week as a treat. Compared to where she'd come from, it was meager living. But it was a living. She was no longer simply surviving. She was now thriving.

She'd filled out, regaining the weight she'd lost in those early stressful days of her pregnancy. Her cheeks were rosy, and it wasn't just the cold chill that January had brought with it. She had a steady stream of firewood for the fireplace and wood stove, her only two sources of heat in the small house. She'd taken to sleeping on the couch these days, simply to be closer to the fire. It was easier to keep it going all night than to start a new one in the morning with cold-numbed fingers.

The firewood was provided by Yuan-Li, the son of the tender in the tavern. He was in his early twenties and had made no secret of his less-than-platonic affection for her. He'd never made any unseemly advances though, out of respect for her supposed "bereaved" status and condition of "being in a family way". Megan's only connection to the outside world was the internet access that cost a small fortune to maintain and the once monthly trip to the province capitol to see her doctor.

It was a small life, and she still had moments where the strain of going through with this killed her. It was only when she felt the baby move that it brought back the reality of why she was doing this. Megan closed the word processor and brought up the spreadsheet containing her finances and budget. Each time she saw the pages it sent a cold chill up her spine. Her doubts were mounting that she could continue to keep up her appointments to the doctor. And the cost of delivering in the hospital, it was obscene. It would wipe out what little was left of her savings. The savings that rested not in a bank somewhere safe, but in a plastic bag in tucked into a hollowed copy of Hitler's autobiography. She'd been stunned to find the book in the collection of books the old woman had left behind and had felt no guilt about destroying it to have a safe place for her few valuables.

She mulled over the options she had. When the baby came, she could breastfeed and use cloth diapers. Megan wrinkled her nose reflexively. Disgusting. She never thought she'd live to see the day when disposable diapers were a luxury item. She could order early blooming vegetables from the internet and have them delivered. Mrs. Wang had already given her permission to bring the baby to work with her. But still, it wouldn't be enough.

It briefly occurred to her that she could go to her branch bank in Hong Kong and withdraw more funds. But it would be a dead giveaway to her location. It was too risky. She huffed in annoyance and clicked on the internet icon, connecting as quickly as she could. To her surprise, her e-mail contained something strange.

Megan's heart skipped a beat before she realized it was addressed to Anja Zhang. She opened the e-mail and scanned it quickly, her eyes widening. Gareth Wang, a representative for a small publishing firm in Hong Kong was extending an invitation for her to visit Hong Kong. She blinked and read it more slowly. His aunt, her employer, had forwarded him her manuscript and it was his pleasure to inform her of the publisher's wish to engage in a contract for publication of the work.

She sucked in a breath when she saw the amount. It wasn't nearly what her father made per book, but it was a small fortune in comparison to the pittance she was making working at the inn. Quickly she grabbed Anja's rarely used cell phone and dialed the number he'd provided.

A scant fifteen minutes later, he'd assured her that no, he was not joking. And yes, the house would be picking up the tab to fly her to Hong Kong to begin negotiations. Megan put down the phone, carefully making sure it was turned off before she jumped from her chair and doing an ecstatic dance across the kitchen floor. "Mommy did something right for a change." She patted the broad expanse of belly happily. In response, her child kicked her sternly in the ribs.

She stopped bouncing immediately. "Crap… I'm sorry, sweets. I know… I'm a horrible mommy." Megan had made a habit of talking to her child, if only for the reason to have someone to talk to.

She reached for her coat, an oversized ancient cast off she'd found in the houses one closet. "Let's go give Mrs. Wang the good news and tell her thank you, shall we?"

The baby kicked her ribs again, whether in agreement or protest, she had no idea.

X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X

Wufei was wakened by the alarm clock from a very good dream. His dreams had been good in the recent months, leaving him with a warm feeling though he had no idea what they were of once he woke. He glare briefly at the alarm clock and groaned, pushing himself up in the bed. He padded barefoot to the window of the one-room apartment he'd rented on downtown Hong Kong. Below him, even at the early hour of eight in the morning, the streets were alive with bustling activity.

He'd tracked Megan here only a month before. It had taken almost 3 full months for track down the scum who'd sold her new identity papers in Beijing. She'd abandoned Kiseki Bloom in a back alley in the illegal red-light district of town. IT still twisted Wufei's stomach to think of Megan putting herself in such obvious danger. She could have been robbed, or raped… or even worse.

The man had, with a little persuasion from Wufei's Glock, finally admitted to preparing papers for Megan's new identity. Everything from a new passport, to a driver's license. She'd paid him cash, plus a generous bonus above street price for a speedy job. To Wufei's shock, the man kept records of his nefarious deeds. When questioned about it, the man had merely shrugged. "I run a top-notch operation. I don't recycle identities. Gotta keep them all straight so I don't give the same one out twice."

He'd remembered Megan, surprisingly well. He'd even expressed surprise that an American would risk her virtue in such a crime-riddled section of Beijing. All he did know for sure was that Megan had stated she needed papers granting her entrance into and out of Hong Kong.

That's what had brought Wufei this far. He'd used his laptop to keep tabs on any and all transactions stemming from her new name. Zhang Anja. So far, there was nothing. She was living a cash existence. However, he knew she had to surface some time. And when she did, he'd be ready for her.

Wufei stretched with a loud yawn and moved to the table and lone chair where his laptop sat, still working on a continuous basis. He never bothered to get offline anymore, his programs though… they could run themselves.

Wufei first checked his e-mail. Ignoring the weekly demand from Sally the demanded to know where he was and what he was doing. He also deleted the same, though less frequent, demand from Une. He occasionally got mail from Duo, updating him on Quatre and Trowa's own progress, though leaving out the details. Wufei would wait until he had Megan, safe… then he would state his mind to her before delivering her safely back to Quatre and Trowa's doorstep.

He slipped on the headset that was plugged into the sound jack and almost jumped when he heard the chime of the bugged tracking program. Megan had made contact with someone. She'd used the pre-paid cell phone with satellite capabilities she'd purchased in Hong Kong. The activity was recent too, within the last hour. He was instantly glad he'd had the foresight to bug the line, even though there hadn't been any activity on the phone in the last month.

Contrary to popular belief, Wufei was neither computer illiterate, nor was he computer-phobic. He merely detested the machines way of prying into peoples personal lives. It was positively Orwellian, the things the machines could do with the right person controlling them. Now however, he felt no guilt about invading Megan's privacy.

With trembling fingers, he played back the conversation. It provided several important details. He jotted notes in a well-used notebook. Ten minutes later, he had information about not only Megan's recent activities, but also the revelation that she was coming to Hong Kong in less than a week for a meeting of some kind. Unfortunately the GPS function on the satellite could only be engaged when the phone was actually in use, but that was okay. Wufei smiled smugly to himself. He'd waited damn near five months, another week would give him plenty of time to cement his plans.

His natural instinct to merely abduct her at the airport was immediately quashed in favor of his curiosity to find out the details of how'd she'd outsmarted four of the smartest people he knew for so long. He'd merely watch from a distance, then follow her back to wherever she'd come from. It was a simple plan, perfect in it's simplicity.

X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X

The baby kicked her in the ribs, hard. Megan chuckled to herself, having no doubt in her mind that the child was protesting the coach class accommodations as vehemently as she herself would have under other circumstances. Beside her, Mrs. Wang was knitting yet another in the endless stream of tiny articles of clothing and blankets she insisted Megan would need. Megan didn't have the heart to protest, merely smiling politely as the woman pointed out to her the intricate stitches on the tiny booties she was now working on.

The turbulence they'd felt through the entire flight suddenly seemed so much worse. The mild shaking grew to an audible rattle. Megan tightened her grip on the arm rests as the bell for seatbelts dinged. The insanely calm voice of the annoyingly happy flight attendant came over the intercom. "Ladies and gentleman, if you will please notice, the captain has turned on the fasten seatbelt sign. We're only moments out of our initial descent into Hong Kong International Airport, if you will please assist us in preparing the cabin for landing by placing your--"

The announcement suddenly cut off but a loud squawk over the speakers. Megan covered her ears and winced in pain. There was a pop, followed by a scream from first class. Megan struggled to quell the rising fear in the pit of her stomach. Vaguely she could make out a French accent. She zeroed in on the words. "Wing…. Fire…"

Her eyes widened as she leaned to peer out the window at the wing. Sure enough, black smoke was billowing behind them. She drew in a deep breath, eyes fastened to the horrible picture before her. The intercom came on again. "Ladies and Gentleman, this is your Captain speaking. Please do not panic. We have had a fire in our number two engine and the fire suppression systems are engaged. If you will please remain calm and in your seats. We've been cleared for an emergency landing at HKIA. We will be on the ground in a few moments. Emergency crews will be on site. Please brace yourselves for a potentially rough landing. Once we are on the ground, please proceed to the nearest exit in an orderly fashion, woman and children first. Thank you and be safe."

Megan's gut twisted in reflex. The man had just said they were all screwed in the perfectly polite way only the Chinese were capable of. Beside her, Mrs. Wang calmly put away her knitting and unbuckled her seatbelt. Megan stared at her, wide eyed. "Mrs. Wang… please fasten your seatbelt, you heard the Captain."

The elderly woman merely smiled serenely as the plane jolted in it's descent. "My name is Lily, child. The time for formality has passed."

"What?" Megan frowned.

"I will join my beloved soon." Mrs. Wang reached out and patted Megan's stomach affectionately. "The wing is no good… landing no good."

Megan realized then that she'd spoken instinctively in English and Mrs. Wang had replied in the same. "Please, it will be fine." Even as she spoke, she knew the words were falling on deaf ears. She was also lying, not only to herself but to Mrs. Wang.

"Lily, my name Lily." The woman continued in English for emphasis before switching back to her native tongue. Megan realized belatedly the woman wasn't speaking to her anymore, but was praying. It was a Buddhist prayer, one begging for Nirvana in coming death. For a period of rest before reincarnation.

Megan crossed her arms protectively over her stomach as she glanced to the window again. The ground was rising fast, too fast. The feeling of being out of control was overwhelming. Lily Wang touched her stomach again, stately smile firmly in place. "I am going, the little one will take my place."

Her words made no sense to Megan until the elderly woman, the woman who had become both mother and friend to her threw herself into the impossibly small space between Megan and the seat before her. Megan didn't have time to scream, didn't have time to stop her as the plane abruptly collided with the ground.

X X X X X X X X X X X X X

Wufei frowned as he watched the board displaying the incoming flight. Megan's flight, which had been flashing as delayed, was now flashing an urgent red. He turned from the monitors and made his way to the window, peering curiously into the sky. He hadn't intended to get close enough to risk her seeing him in the boarding area. But then again, he'd have time to blend into the crowd. He'd flashed his Preventers badge at security, bypassing the crowds in the ticket terminal, to waiting at her gate. He had to see for himself that she was really in Hong Kong before putting his plan into action.

Red flashing lights caught his eye as emergency vehicles made their way down the far runway, the emergency runway. Fear rocketed through him. Megan's flight had been flashing red, to indicate an emergency landing. His stomach twisted in sudden sickening dread. He raised his eyes again. There, clearly in view, flight 2982 approached the runway, the wing nearest him trailing black smoke. He watched in mute horror as it's speed slowed, beginning an uncontrolled descent. The landing gear was malfunctioning as it grew ever nearer. People behind him screamed as they realized their loved ones were on that doomed aircraft. Wufei was spurred into action.

He darted for the emergency exit, flying down the staircase. He ignored the yells of outrage from airport workers as he commandeered a golf cart and took off across the pavement towards the runway. From the corner of his eye, he could see the plane as it hit the runway in a dance of flames and twisting metal. The fuselage was open, a gaping hole as the wing ripped off, spewing fuel in it's wake. The fuel ignited as quickly as the plane skidded.

Wufei's heart stopped as he watched the one-winged wreck spin in an imitation of a macabre ballet. The tires on the golf-cart squealed as he braked far too quickly. He ignored the emergency workers who rushed towards the wreckage. Anyone who dared stop him would bear the brunt of the killer within. A killer who had remained dormant far too long.

X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X

Her chest burned. Megan could vaguely hear the screams as the plane finally came to a rocking halt. She opened her eyes, seeing only thick black smoke. It was as though daytime had ceased to exist. She moved experimentally. She had to get out. A dead weight across her lap had cushioned the blow from the window exploding in from the force of the landing. No… this was no landing… it was a crash. Suddenly her fogged mind cleared a little. She shook the form in her lap. "Mrs. Wang. We have to get out of here…"

There was no response from the petite frame the seemed to cradle her abdomen. She felt the baby kick her indignantly. Megan released a strangled sob of relief. "Mrs. Wang… please wake up."

The seat in front of her gave way as the occupants weight fell away, whether dead or evacuating, Megan did not know. Lily Wang's body fell with the seats, tumbling away from Megan. Megan groped for her seat belt and ignored the blinding pain that shot up her back as she released the restraint. She leaned forward and pressed her fingers to Mrs. Wang's neck. There was no pulse. The woman's neck was obviously broken and Megan could feel a slick liquid as she pulled her hand away. Blood.

Strong arms suddenly wrapped around her, the gruff voice she recognized as that of the man who'd been sitting behind her speaking loudly over the screams. "Come with me. She's beyond our help."

The baby kicked again. Megan struggle as the pain hit her again, like lightening. "My baby."

"There are ambulances, and doctors. They will help you and your baby, Miss. But you have to calm down."

Compliantly, Megan went limp. A cloth covered her nose and mouth. The man's voice came again. "Breathe through this. Just try to relax, I'll carry you out."

X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X

Wufei steadily caught the elderly woman who'd just leapt into his outstretched arms. Survivors were streaming out of the plane, nearly trampling one another in their efforts to escape the thick black smoke of the fire from inside the fuselage. He hadn't had time to search for Megan yet among the survivors who were now wandering dazedly in the direction of the waiting emergency crews. He wasn't the only one assisting people off the plane, there were others. He turned for a moment to gaze at the people who were retreating as quickly as their injuries would permit. "Pay attention, young one!"

A gruff voice speaking in heavily accented Mandarin yelled at him from the plane. Wufei's eyes snapped back. The man was in his late 50s, perhaps early 60s. He was cradling a soot covered form like a child. "Get help, she's bleeding!"

Wufei's eyes widened, all thoughts of Megan shoved aside as his innate instinct to serve and protect kicked in once again. The woman in the man's arms groaned, as she mumbled incoherently in English. He spoke roughly to the man as he reached up to help him with the woman. "They're all bleeding, you imbecile!"

"No, she's pregnant and bleeding."

Crap, that did put a whole new spin on things. He signaled for one of the other workers assistance. Within moment, he was cradling the woman in his arms. She was unrecognizable, covered in black soot and blood, her face covered in a cloth to filter out the toxins from the smoke. He held her close, she weighed next to nothing and ran at top speed towards the waiting EMTs.


	8. Tabula Rasa

A/N Almost at the end, just hang in there and we'll be wrapping up soon. Remember, reviews make a happy author.

Promises

Chapter 8

Trowa paced the waiting room, growing more agitated by the moment. Yet another scream came from the trauma unit where his husband was being treated. The unintelligible Arabic words reiterated the pain that Quatre was going through. He'd begun to hyperventilate during a meeting with Relena almost an hour before. The episode had escalated to fits of screaming by the time they'd arrived at the hospital via ambulance. Trowa had arrived only moments after Quatre had been brought in. He'd been banished to the private waiting room along with Relena and Lady Une, who'd also been in the meeting.

He spun, propelling himself towards the door. "What could be going on? He's upset and in pain. Can't they give him something for the pain?" His voice broke on the last word.

Lady Une rose from the hard plastic seat and rested a restraining hand on his arm. "Trowa, they would tell you if something were happening. Please try to calm down, I know this is difficult but…"

"Shut up!" He snarled at her, ripping his arm free from her grasp. "That's my husband in there."

"I'm aware of that, Barton." Anne's voice was threaded with steely calm. "But you'll only cause him more pain if you are agitated."

Trowa calmed somewhat, knowing her words to be true. "Can't they…"

The door opened at that moment, revealing a heavy-set middle aged woman. "Mr. Barton-Winner?"

"Yes." Trowa instantly turned to face her.

She extended a hand to Trowa. "I'm Doctor McGuire. I'm your husband's attending physician."

"What the hell is going on? He's still screaming." Trowa ignored the outstretched hand.

The doctor nodded sympathetically. "I've done a thorough examination, and your husband doesn't have anything physically ailing him. At this point my recommendation is that we administer a sedative to calm him down. I need your permission to do that. Then we can run some more tests, an MRI and a CAT just to bar any type of brain injury."

Trowa furrowed his brow. "I… yeah, that's fine. Can I see him?"

"Maybe in a bit after we've had some time to calm him down. There's just one thing that's not clear to us." The doctor remained calm, even as a ghost of a frown crossed her face. "There's only on clear word he's saying. It's the name of your oldest daughter. The one that's missing."

The words struck Trowa to his very core. He lost his breath for a long second, the gasped for air, staring at the doctor in disbelief. "Megan… he's feeling her again."

"Pardon?" The doctor's frown was now distinct.

Trowa gritted his teeth and glanced to the women in the room. "It's not in any of Quatre's medical files. He has a fear of the press getting their hands on them and having a tabloid holiday with the information. Dr. McGuire, my husband is a Newtype."

The woman's brow smoothed out as she finally understood. "I see. In light of that, why don't you come with me. I think that under the circumstances, you should be there when we administer the sedative. I'll use a lower dosage so he'll still be able to communicate, but I can't guarantee that it will alleviate a pain that isn't physical in nature."

"I understand." He followed the doctor from the room and down the long hallway to where his husband's screams were still reverberating from the sterile white walls.

He was ushered into a curtained-off cubicle. It was here that he found Quatre fighting against the leather restraints the bound him to the bed. Trowa was instantly outraged. "What the hell? Get those things off of him!"

"Mr. Barton-Winner, they're for his own protection as well as that of my staff. He gave an orderly a black eye and broke my triage nurse's thumb." Dr. McGuire's voice was firm. "I'm sorry. After he's calmed down a bit, we'll remove the restraints, but for the moment…" She fell silent as she moved forward and reached for the box of latex gloves mounted to the wall.

Trowa pushed his way through the crowd of interns and growled at them when he reached his husband's side. "Get out! He's not a side-show!"

The students appeared taken aback for a moment until he balled up his fists. Dr. McGuire's voice was firm. "That's enough. Dr. Jorgensen, please escort your colleagues to the meeting room. I will join you there in a bit."

Trowa made a mental note to thank the woman later. She readied a syringe, drawing a small amount of the sedative into it. Trowa gripped Quatre's hand tightly and leaned over his spouse. Quatre's voice instantly stilled as he felt his lover's presence next to him. The doctor blinked in surprise, then shook her head. The injection was over with in seconds. Quatre's blinked blearily, then let his eyes focus on the ceiling.

He moaned belatedly in protest of the needle, the turned his head to gaze dazedly at Trowa. He was breathless as he spoke in Arabic. "Megan… pain." He shuddered in response as the drug began to take effect. "The plane… baby."

"Plane? Quatre, what are you talking about?" Trowa pinched Quatre's hand lightly, then realized the other man was fast asleep.

He turned a worried gaze to the doctor. "He's exhausted and the sedative worked quickly. When he wakes up, he'll be okay."

"You said he would be communicative." He demanded angrily.

The doctor held a hand up in self-defense. "I thought he would be, but people respond to medications in different ways. He'll probably sleep for a long while. You can stay with him if you like. I want to monitor him. If he's all right when he wakes up, I'll release him to your care. Just press the call button if you need anything."

X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X

Wufei passed the pregnant woman off to the waiting EMTs and turned around, running back to the plane to help with the other survivors who were now fighting to get off. A sickening dread filled his stomach. He hadn't found Megan yet, that meant she was probably among the dead… he sternly reprimanded himself. He hadn't searched all these months to lose her now. He would find her, and alive.

He heard the sound before he saw what was left of the fuselage explode. His heart stopped beating for a moment as he was thrown back to the ground, shrapnel grazing his legs. He covered his head the split second before there was another explosion as the fuel in the remaining wing caught a spark. His world went black as he felt something strike him in the back of the head.

X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X

Someone whispered words to her, she remembered that much. She'd felt safe for a few precious seconds before darkness consumed her. Then… nothing. Blissful white light and sleep enclosed her.

Now however, Megan felt something. She was cold. Very cold. She heard a far away beep, something about it was sterile. She smelled antiseptic and soap. Blearily she coaxed her eyes open as she drew in a breath of that vile sterile atmosphere. The machinery and white walls were a dead giveaway. She was alive. She'd survived the crash. The memories rushed back to her in a flood. Mrs. Wang lying dead in front of her, the woman's limp body cushioning her baby from the impact.

Megan's hands went to her stomach, her very sore stomach. Panic coursed through her veins as she found her bulge to be suspiciously absent. She screamed loudly, not even having the coherent words to express how she felt.

The machines began beeping, joining in her cacophony of dread. Then voices from down the hall. She gasped for air at the thought her child suddenly not being a part of her. The child she'd sacrificed everything for, the child Lily Wang had died to save. Megan's screams became sobs.

A figure appeared next to her, speaking in soothing tones, Mandarin. Megan's fogged brain couldn't make out the words. She responded with a strangled sob and curled her arms over her empty belly. "My baby. Where's my baby?"

As thought registering the fact that their patient was speaking English, the person reached up to silence the machines. "You're fine. You're baby's fine."

"I want my baby. Where is my baby?" Megan's confusion mounted. "It hurts."

"Please calm yourself, child." The person spoke again, a woman. "You were bleeding. The doctor delivered the baby through Cesarean as soon as you reached the hospital. You are fine, the bleeding has been stopped and the tear in your uterus repaired. The child is safe. I promise you, your baby is fine."

The words reached Megan's distorted mind, soothing her instantly. "What… "

"A girl. She was a bit small, but she is comfortable and stable in our nursery. What is your name?"

Megan was suddenly tired. "Megan. You promise she's safe?"

"I promise. Rest and we will bring her to you. Is there someone we can call for you? Family?"

"Wufei." She muttered as she began to drift back into drug induced sleep.

"Wufei?" The voice was questioning. Megan did not register her mistake before she was engulfed once more in that blissful, dreamless dark of rest.

X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X

"Doctor Martin?" The nurse spoke in a respectful, yet soft tone to the British doctor who was head of the trauma recovery ward for Hong Kong's International Medical Centre.

"Yes, Li?"

"The patient in 401. She woke briefly."

The slight female doctor's head rose abruptly. "Has she now? Was she coherent?"

"Yes and asking about the child. I was able to get her first name as well as the name of a family member to contact. Only his first name, however. My deepest apologies for not having further information." Li bowed deeply.

Cynthia Martin rolled her eyes surreptitiously. "You haven't failed in anyway and will you knock it off with all the bloody bowing. What were the names?"

"The woman's name is Megan and the man's Wufei."

"Good. Get me the list of identified injured and dead. We'll start there. Once we rule out his status as one or the other, we'll proceed from there. Have the baby prepped and ready to be visit her Mummy when she's up to it." Cynthia smiled smugly. She'd saved the woman by the skin of her teeth and 4 pints of grade A type O. The mother-to-be had been in critical condition through the night, but it was only the morning after the accident. She hadn't expected the woman to bounce back so quickly.

"Yes, Doctor Martin." Li bowed once more as the pager at Cynthia's hip went off.

Cynthia lifted it and stared at it for a moment before rolling her eyes again. Chang was awake once more, and demanding to be seen by her for the third time in less than 24 hours. She'd pawned him off on the nurses after he'd referred to her as an overly-cautious woman… at least that was the hesitant translation the nurse on duty had provided her with. She suspected the ornery Mr. Chang had used much stronger language.

She dismissed Li and moved in the opposite direction, directly across the ward to the man's private room. She drew in a fortifying breath and pushed open the door. The man sat up in bed, strands of long inky black hair left to fan out across his shoulders. He scowled at her, his sour expression making him appear much younger than his 34 years. Cynthia steeled herself for another argument. "Mr. Chang, I've already told you that I will not release you until I am certain your injuries are sufficiently healed."

He glowered at her. "I want a list of the identified dead."

Cynthia blinked. "I'm sorry, Mr. Chang. That information is confidential and will be released only to the proper authorities."

The man winced as he gestured to the closet that held his stained and torn clothing he'd been brought in wearing. "Give me my wallet."

Dr. Martin drew herself up, prepared to read him the riot act. He spoke again, his voice firm. She had figured him a force to be reckoned with, but she hadn't expected him to be so blatantly… disagreeable. "Why?"

"I'm a Preventer. I'm an upper level officer with level 8 clearance and I'll prove it to you if you'll just hand me my damned wallet."

Cynthia bit her lower lip for a moment, then complied with his wishes. He accepted the well-worn leather wallet and flipped it open, pushing it at her for her inspection. Sure enough he was Lieutenant Colonel Chang Wufei of the Preventer's Manhattan branch. "Now, let me see that list."

Wufei… the name the woman across the ward had given to Li. She pursed her lips and stared at him, as though memorizing his face. Mentally she compared him to the baby she'd delivered the night before. Newborns rarely looked like either parent, but given the child's clear Asian heritage she was now forced to consider the impossible. "Why do you want the list?"

Cynthia knew the chances of the child being his were remote at best, but her morals still demanded to know the entire truth. He bit out the words angrily. "I'm looking for someone."

"Who?"

"That's none of your concern." He was clearly becoming agitated.

The woman held her ground. "I need to know who you are looking for. We have unidentified people on the ward and in the morgue. I have a responsibility to protect the families of those who have not been identified."

"She was traveling under an assumed name." He relented at last, voice suddenly tired. "I've been tracking her for months. Her alias is Anja Zhang, but her real name is Megan Hanahan-Barton-Winner and she's the daughter of Quatre and Trowa Barton-Winner. If she's dead, I need to know so that they don't find out from the media. And if she isn't, I need to be able to identify that she's still alive with my own two eyes."

So, he probably wasn't the father, but he did know her. The woman sleeping across the floor was the only Caucasian pulled from the wreckage, either living or dead. Cynthia swallowed hard. "I can't give you the list."

He immediately launched into a tirade. The doctor held up a hand to stop him. "There was only one person on that flight who wasn't Asian, living or dead. She was pulled from the wreckage yesterday, one of the last to make it out alive as I recall." Cynthia wisely avoided the subject of the baby, for her patients own protection in case she was wrong about the woman's connection to the man. "She's in the hospital, but she's sleeping right now."

Chang Wufei threw back the covers and rose from the bed. "Take me …" He crumpled instantly.

Cynthia moved forward and caught him smoothly, pushing him back onto the bed. "Mr. Chang. I'm sorry. But it's too soon to disturb her. She needs to rest as do you. I'll make you a deal."

He went back onto the bed willingly, obsidian eyes wide with suspicion. "What deal?"

"If you'll remain in bed and don't give my staff any grief, I'll take you to look in on her this afternoon. But only when she's asleep and you have to swear you won't wake her under any circumstances. Her injuries were extensive and she needs to rest all that she can."

The indignant Agent Chang seemed to consider this for a long moment before he nodded. "I accept your offer, and extend my thanks for your willingness to bend the rules concerning the matter."

"You're welcome. Is there anyone I should contact on your behalf?"

He shook his head, expression darkening. "No. Thank you." The expression of gratitude was muttered, as though it was hard for him to say. Cynthia had to take what she could get. She left him without a word in return, returning to her office to finish her nap that had been so rudely interrupted by Li's call about the American woman.

X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X

Megan woke sometime later, instinctively reaching down to touch her bandaged stomach. She panicked for a moment before remembering the stranger's words from earlier. She drew in a slow breath and hit the call button for the nurse. The same woman from before appeared in the doorway, bowing deeply before approaching the bed. "Miss Megan?"

Her name… her real name… the one she had not heard in months filled her with a sudden fear. "Yes."

"My name is Li, I am your nurse for this morning and afternoon. How are you feeling? You have slept most of the morning away. It is just after noon." The woman approached, cheerful smile in place as she glanced at the machines, then pulled back the covers and peeked under Megan's bandages.

Megan sighed heavily. "I'm fine. Sore, but alive. Can I see my baby?"

Li smiled as she pulled the covers back up. "Of course. The nursery is one ward over. I will bring her myself."

"Is she really all right?" Megan's anxiety increased suddenly. "I mean… she's so early.

"A bit small, yes. But she's breathing on her own and she's quite healthy for being premature. She is being watched carefully. Don't be afraid of the wires. They are connected to a box that remotely monitors her heart rate and breathing."

"But she's really okay?"

Li smiled brilliantly as she headed for the door. "She's absolutely perfect. Her reflexes are good, she's responding to stimuli, and eating well."

"Thank God." Megan breathed out the words as the nurse left the room."

Several nerve-wracking minutes later there was a quiet knock at the door. Megan pushed the button to move the bed into a seated position. The door was opened and Li smiled at her as she pushed in an enclosed bassinet on wheels. Megan's breath caught in her chest when the cart was close enough for her to see into. She saw the impossibly tiny arms flailing indignantly as the baby cried. "Why is she in that thing?"

"Don't worry, it is only to keep her warm and the loud noises of the other babies out. It's not an incubator, though it may look like one." Li smiled as she unlatched the lid and pulled the infants arms into a blanket, swaddling her tightly.

Megan swallowed hard, straining to look over the nurses shoulder at the baby. Her daughter was settled gently into her arms a few moments later. The squirming bundle cried loudly, in protest of being removed from the warmth of her bassinet. Megan's heart froze as she lifted her gaze to Li in momentary panic. "What if I hurt her?"

The woman laughed softly. "Just support her head and don't drop her, and you'll do fine."

"Can I unwrap her?"

"For a few moments if you wish. Just don't let her get too cold. I'll leave you two alone to get to know each other." Li turned for the door, glancing back with a soft smile in place. "Oh! I need to know for her certificate, what is her name."

"Well, I hadn't really… " Megan trailed off and stared down at the baby, who'd settled down to a few hiccupping sobs. She worried at her lower lip for a moment before an idea came to her. "Lily. Her name is Lily…" She paused again. "Catherine…" She frowned this time, for a moment before lifting defiant eyes to the nurse. "My daughter's name is Lily Catherine Chang."

"That is beautiful. I will inform the clerks." Li was gone in an instant, before Megan could call her back to correct what could possibly be her downfall.

The door closed softly behind the nurse, leaving Megan alone with her daughter for the first time. The baby was impossibly small. Megan glanced to the note card taped to the foot of the bassinet. It reported to her that her daughter weighed 5 pounds even and was a mere 14 inches long. Five pounds, a bag of sugar. Megan giggled to herself. "Lily… my sugar baby." Carefully, she maneuvered the baby enough to loosen the receiving blanket and expose her child's body for her inspection.

First she counted fingers, twice. Then her toes… three times just to make sure. She was perfect. Absolutely perfect in every way. The baby's bottom lip quivered in dismay at being manhandled. She carefully wrapped the baby up again, not as tightly this time and positioned her once more in the crook of her arm, tracing her forefinger down the infant's cheek in amazement.

"You're real. You're real and you're here." In response, the baby gurgled at her, opening the eyes the had been tightly shut the entire time, searching for the source of the new sound. Megan chuckled. "You're gorgeous aren't you? The most perfect thing I've ever seen."

The baby had a thick tuft of black hair the seemed to stick out in every conceivable direction. Not a curl in sight. Her eyes were dark, a shade of black just off Wufei's own. "You have Grampa Trowa's nose, toots." Lily's mouth was a perfect cupid's bow. Her own lips. The baby's complexion was like porcelain, not the golden that Wufei's was and a few freckles dotted the bridge of her nose just under those perfect, almond shaped eyes.

Megan smiled happily. "Lily Catherine Chang… it's nice to meet you. I'm your mom. And your father… well… we'll get to him later. But you're here and you're perfect. And I'll love you like no one else can."

The baby gave a gurgle of what Megan hoped was approval, before sighing deeply and burrowing further into the warmth of her mother's tentative embrace. Lily fell asleep within moments. Megan was content to hold her daughter, relishing in the sudden wave of the strongest emotion she'd ever felt. For the moment fear was banished to a place far away, and Megan was euphoric.


	9. Fear

A/N Thankees to SC-sama and happy belated birthday to her and Tensei-chan.

Promises

Chapter 9

Wufei glared at the clock, watching the moments tick by until the hand hit 4 exactly. He was just reaching for the call button when there was a knock at the door. "Enter."

The young British doctor he'd seen earlier entered the room and smiled happily. She was too damn chipper. Wufei scowled. "Well?"

"I thought you might like to see her now."

"Yes, please." He gritted his teeth. If he had to be polite, it would be best to start now, at least until the woman had let him check on whether or not it really was Megan in that room. He threw the bedcovers off and swung his feet off the bed. He moved to the reviled wheelchair the woman was pushing with no small amount of displeasure.

Behind him, he did not see Cynthia Martin smirking at the icily polite tone. She wheeled him in silence. Until they came to the door of room 401. She left him alone in the hallway for just a moment as she opened the door and peeked inside. "She's still sleeping. I'll only take you in for a few minutes, and you have to swear you won't wake her, even if she is your missing person."

Wufei nodded impatiently. "Yes, yes."

"Swear it! She's been badly injured and needs her rest." The doctor insisted.

"I swear." He looked at her serious, his annoyance receding long enough for his voice to reiterate his promise.

Apparently satisfied with this, she pushed him through the open door and wheeled him to the side of the bed. He leaned forward to study the sleeping woman's battered face. His breath caught as he realized that it was in fact, Megan. Her hair was shorter than he recalled, cut to a length just above her chin. Her face bruised, the marks standing out in stark contrast to the paleness of the rest of her.

"Is she okay?" He asked quietly, moderating his voice carefully so there was no chance of waking her. The machines continued to beep quietly as the doctor answered him.

"She's not okay. But she'll live. She's recovering nicely from surgery and I should be able to release her in a few days if all goes well. She hemorrhaged in her abdominal cavity as a result from the impact and the placement of her seat belt. She's lucky she didn't have any fractures. I repaired the damage in surgery, and barring infection she should be able to be released in 4 or 5 days."

Wufei reached out carefully, his hand hovering above her exposed one for a few seconds. He wanted to touch her, to assure himself that the months of frustration and anger hadn't been for nothing. She was real, and she was here. Megan was safe at last. He could take her home, let her recover there and finally get the answers he needed. Then she could go home to Quatre and Trowa and get on with her life. "Can you make arrangements for me to place an overseas call? I'll need to contact her parents. They'll want to know about this."

X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X

Cynthia's initial reaction was a blatant no. She had a duty to protect the privacy of her patient. There was a fine line she was walking already by bringing him into this room without the sleeping woman's knowledge. She turned the chair she stood behind to the door and quietly pushed the mollified Mr. Chang back to his room.

Once inside, she shut the door and turned to him, crossing her arms over her chest. She spoke in a serious voice. "Mr. Chang. I want you to know that I'm very relieved you've found who you were looking for. But there are circumstances surrounding the woman that you know nothing about. I don't believe that bringing in hordes of people will speed her recovery. She's got enough to worry about with just getting better."

She knew she'd crossed the line when he narrowed his eyes, speaking in perfectly unaccented English. "What are you talking about?"

Cynthia shook her head. "That information is privileged. Confidentiality between myself and my patients prohibits me from sharing that."

"Is she ill? Her fathers said she was ill when she disappeared. Is her life in danger?" Doctor Martin did not expect the blatant concern in his voice, the raw fear that pervaded his tone.

"No." She repeated firmly. "Aside from the injuries she sustained, she's perfectly healthy and that's all I'm going to say. That's all I'm allowed to say."

Wufei's voice took on a challenging edge. "I want to speak to her when she wakes up. Alone. Tonight."

"No. I can't allow that. I don't know why you're so upset about this. But she needs rest and she needs to be left alone to recover. After she's released and is no longer under my care, you can be in all the contact you wish, but until then, I will not risk her lapsing into a dangerous depression because of unwanted company."

She could see she was walking that fine line again. His expression turned stormy. "It would only take one phone call to have all the funding for your facility yanked by it's investors. You wouldn't want that, would you Doctor Martin?" His silky voice was laced with a threatening tone.

Cynthia dropped her arms to her sides. "I won't be bullied, Mr. Chang. And neither will my staff. From your misguided attitude, I'm inclined to assess the situation in such a light that you would cause there to be a significant threat to my patient's recovery time. Therefore you will have no further contact with Megan Hanahan. Under no circumstances are you to go anywhere near her or try to contact her while she is in the care of my or any other person in this facility. I hope you have a good evening, Mr. Chang. I'll check on you in the morning."

With those words, she left the man sitting there, still in the wheelchair. His expression was pure rage as she closed the door behind her. Cynthia chuckled, she could have sworn she'd seen smoke coming from the man's ears. Li greeted her as she approached the nurses station. "Dr. Martin. Mr. Ling in room 413, he's being most uncooperative in taking his medication."

Cynthia sighed heavily. "Just inject it into his IV bag. He's already been declared incompetent by psych. And will you please be certain to move the patient in room 401 to the maternity ward? Dr. LePlace and I will be coordinating her care starting in the morning. Under no circumstance are you to allow Mr. Chang in 412 to know where she is or revel any information concerning her status. That means no information about her OR the baby. He's not to know that child exists. Also, I want you to cut phone access to his room completely. I'll be in my office. I have some calls to make and I don't want to be disturbed." With those instructions, Doctor Cynthia Martin left the trauma ward and headed for the elevator and her office on the sanctuary of the 9th floor.

X X X X X X X X X X X X X X

"Lady Une, I have a Doctor Cynthia Martin on line 4. She's calling from Hong Kong and insists it is urgent."

Anne dropped the data pad to the top of her desk and reached for the phone, hitting the button for audio only. "This is Une."

"Lady Une, my apologies for disturbing you at so early an hour, but I have news on a missing person."

Une raised her head from the reports she'd been reading and gave the woman on the phone her undivided attention. "We don't handle very many missing persons cases."

"You handled this one, for a time I believe. Megan Hanahan-Barton-Winner."

Une's heart skipped a beat. "Yes, we did look into it. You say you have information?"

"Yes." The British woman hesitated. "I take it you've been informed of the commuter jet that had trouble in Hong Kong yesterday?"

Dread filled Une at those words. "Yes. I recall."

"One of your agents, an ornery fellow by the name of Chang Wufei was injured in the act of aiding the survivors from the aircraft before it exploded." Fear struck Une even harder now, would she have to tell Quatre and Trowa of Chang's death as well as Megan's? It would be a crushing blow to the already strained psyche of the two former pilots.

"Please don't assume the worst. Agent Chang survived the explosion, he was far enough away that he sustained only minor injuries. I will most likely be releasing him after another 48 hours of observation. He has a bad concussion, abrasions and minor burns. All in all he was quite fortunate to have escaped considering that of the 132 people on board, only 29 escaped with their lives."

"Only 29 survivors." Une's voice faltered.

"Yes, I'm afraid so. The official numbers won't be published until all the dead are identified. It's an ongoing effort."

"Not to be rude, Dr. Martin. But what does one thing have to do with another?"

"Ah, yes. My apologies for going off onto a tangent. I know you're an extremely busy woman. I know that your connections with the Barton-Winner family extend beyond diplomacy. I thought you would be the best person to inform the Misters Barton-Winner that Megan Hanahan-Barton-Winner was positively identified by Agent Chang about 45 minutes ago."

"Identified. Is she alive or dead?" Une's voice began to show her strain.

The doctor's voice was warm. "It's not often I'm able to deliver good news, Lady Une. Miss Hanahan is alive. She sustained serious injuries to her abdomen and various bruising to her body. An emergency surgery was performed last night and she was only in ICU for a few hours. Barring any complications in her recovery I expect her to make a full recovery. I will be releasing her in a few days. I just wanted to let you know so you could give her family a heads up. Agent Chang wanted to contact them himself, but I didn't think it prudent given his agitated state."

"Of course. Chang has a way of irritating even the most saintly of people." Une spoke wearily into the phone, relief flooding her. "Thank you for calling. I'll inform the family personally. Expect to hear from them concerning arrangements within a few hours."

"Lady Une, may I ask a favor?" The woman on the other end seemed to hesitate.

"Anything. We'd do anything to repay your kindness." Une meant every word too.

Cynthia Martin hesitated slightly. "I don't doubt that the family has only he best of intentions. But it took hours just to get her first name. The young lady, though doing well, has been through a lot. I just want to make it perfectly clear that I don't condone any visitors that might upset her at such a delicate stage in her recovery. I think it would be prudent to urge the family to wait a few days before they come. For her sake."

Une considered her words carefully. "I'll pass that on. Thank you again for calling."

She disconnected the call and dropped the phone back into it's cradle. Ten minutes later she was out the door and on her way to Quatre and Trowa's home.

X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X

Megan woke to bright sunshine streaming into the window of a cheery room. It was more of a bedroom than a hospital room. She frowned and gazed around herself for a moment before remembering she'd been moved the night before. The walls were painted a bright yellow, with framed flower prints on the wall opposite the bed. She sighed contentedly and rubbed at her eyes. The IV drip had been removed the previous night, just before she'd been informed of the doctors decision to move her to the maternity ward a few halls over.

She'd been instantly thrilled to hear the news. Her recovery time was much faster than the doctor had anticipated, Li had said, and had authorized the move. Megan was happy with the change of scenery as it meant that she was going to be able to spend longer periods of time getting to know her daughter. She had been sorely disappointed the previous day when she'd been permitted a few precious minutes with the tiny infant only to be denied more than one more visit.

Her abdomen hurt from the surgery, but she'd been able to move around some the night before, enough that the nurse had removed the blasted catheter that annoyed her so much. She'd regained her appetite earlier in the morning and finished breakfast. She'd been allowed an entire uninterrupted hour with Lily before lunch and then a nap.

Now a glance at the clock told her it was a bit after 4. She grinned to herself and reached for the call button on her bedside table only to find it pulled from her grasp. Startled, she whipped her head around to stare at the intruder she hadn't realized was there. Dismay rocketed through her as the last person she expected to see stared at her in thinly veiled amusement. "Duo."

Her uncle's good humor vanished instantly. "We need to talk, Kiddo." He hadn't called her that in years.

Megan's heart raced in panic. What if he tried to take Lily, what if he told her parents, or worse… Wufei. She forced a shaky smile and laughed tentatively. "Long time, no see."

"That's enough, Megan." He set the remote aside, just out of her reach.

"How did you find me?" Her words were whispered, her fear plainly visible.

Duo glanced at the closed door. "The doctor contact Une, who in turn contacted me when she couldn't get in touch with Quatre or Trowa."

He drew in a deep breath and stared at her for a long moment, clearly uncertain of what to say. "I wanted to get to you before they could, so I waited until I landed in Hong Kong to call them. They should be here in a few hours. I know my timing sucks, but there's a few things I need to say to you and some answers that I need to know. Can I trust you to be completely honest with me, if I promise you I won't hide anything from you?"

Megan hesitated then nodded. "Yes."

"Good." He rose from the chair and lowered the railing of the bed, taking a seat on it. "First off, I have to know. Did Wufei hurt you in any way, physically or emotionally?"

"Hurt me? That's a loaded one." She averted her eyes, gathering her thoughts. "The rejection hurt. I couldn't stand it. That's why I left. Because I felt betrayed and angry. That's why I'm not going back. I never want to see him again."

Duo frowned. "Did he force himself on you?"

Megan's eyes flashed in surprise. "No. God no, Wufei might be an ass but he's not like that. I went to him."

"Good. Thank you for being honest. That's what he told Quatre when Q went to see him. That's the last time any of us have seen him. He took a leave of absence from the Preventers. We think he's been looking for you the whole time you were gone." Thought Duo's voice didn't change, Megan could sense the irritation that lay underneath.

The thought caught her off guard. If he knew where she was, then he knew about… "Lily." She shot straight up in Bed.

Duo grabbed her by the shoulders and gently pushed her back down. "She's fine. I swear to you. I checked on her before I came here." His expression softened. "She beautiful, Megan."

Maternal pride shot through her, replacing her momentary panic. "I know."

"That's why I'm here. We didn't know where you had gone or anything those first few days. Quatre… he… sort of lost it I guess. He convinced himself that the best thing to do after we found you would be to send you to L4 to have the baby and then not tell Wufei. He coerced Trowa into agreeing to adopt the baby so you could pursue your own life." Duo chuckled darkly. "You know how your fathers can be when they're feeling a little overprotective."

"They want to take my baby?" The panic returned.

Duo's hand remained on her shoulder, keeping her moving. "Take it easy, Megs. You don't need to tear out your stitches. That's another part of the reason I wanted a head start." The braided man took a deep breath and then released it.

"Megan, your fathers love you very much. They only want what's best you. Sometimes as parents we're so blinded by that urge to protect, that we overlook things. Like what's most important to our children. We think that what's best isn't always what our children want. And it's hard to let go and think of them as adults." Duo cleared his throat and averted his eyes.

"I'm probably going to regret this, but here goes nothing." He reached into the breast pocket of his coat, withdrawing a vaguely familiar white envelope. "This is something that I didn't tell Heero or anyone about. After you disappeared, I wanted to help you. I couldn't make Quatre see reason. He was just so outraged that he wouldn't listen to anyone. Trowa went along with his plan for the sake of keeping Quatre from completely losing touch with reality, I think. He's much better now, but he's still not a hundred percent."

Duo extended the envelope to him. "I drew these up for you this morning. It's a new identity. The last one I'll ever make for you. There's a new birth certificate for Lily and enough cash to get you on your feet. I packed a small bag with clothes for you and Lily, enough to last a few days along with the essentials you'll both need. A shuttle is waiting for you at the regional airport. The decision is yours whether you want to take your daughter and run or not. I won't stand in your way."

"Duo, why are you doing this?" Megan held the envelope tightly, her voice breaking.

He bit his lower lip for a second before smiling carefully. "Because family means everything, Megs. Lily is your family now. When I saw that little girl and realized that she was a real person and not just this vague idea that Quatre's been talking about for months, I realized that you needed a fighting chance."

Megan nodded slowly, then pushed the envelope back into his hands. "Thank you, Duo. But if I've learned anything about myself in the last few months, it's that I can do things on my own I never dreamed of before. I'll be okay. I swear it."

He hesitated, then ripped the envelope open and extracted the cash. "At least take the money, Meg." He ignored her protests and folded the bundle of bills, tucking them into her hand. "I won't have my best friend's grandchild go hungry. Use it for the baby or for whatever."

Megan said nothing but scrubbed at the tears that threatened her. He leaned forward and kissed her on the forehead. "I'm going to take a walk. I think I need some air."

He rose from the bed and crossed to the door. He turned back for a moment and smiled sadly. "I was kind of hoping you'd turn me down."

With those words he was gone. Megan released a strangled sob, before she threw the covers back. She did the math quickly. She had only a few hours at the most to get herself and Lily out of Hong Kong.


	10. Panic

A/N Second to last chapter already! Enjoy!

Promises

Chapter 9

Wufei scanned the crowded lobby of the airport, eyes traveling wearily over the crowd. His heart was racing in time to the chimes that constantly seemed to declare incoming flight arrivals. It had been over a month since he'd lost Megan a second time. She'd disappeared from the hospital less than 24 hours after he'd confirmed her identity to the doctor. The nurse, Li, had been less than helpful. She would tell him only that Miss Hanahan had checked out of the hospital of her own volition against the doctor's orders.

He hadn't hung around the hospital to find out if the other pilots knew yet that Megan had been found, albeit temporarily. She had a knack for this disappearing thing. He had attempted to find her after she'd left the hospital, he'd been trying for over a month now. He had no leads. None. It was as if she'd dropped off the face of the planet. He'd started where he had left off. Megan knew he was on to her, somehow that much was certain. She was as smart as any person he knew, cunning too.

He hadn't the foggiest idea where she would go next. After month of sitting and twiddling his thumbs, chasing after any vague idea he'd come to a decision. He'd simply start where she'd last been. Tracking her cell-phone had been the hard part. He'd done some digging and come up with an address for a small village many hours north. He had only to find the correct address and question the people of the town, then perhaps he'd have a place to start again.

X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X

Megan dazedly rolled over in the bed, her head pounding from lack of sleep. The last month had been rough beyond belief. The baby slept only a few hours at a time, and caring for her was a full-time job. The cash Duo had given her helped a lot, enabling her to provide better food for herself and the best formula for Lily. Her attempts at breastfeeding had been an unmitigated disaster. She'd taken Lily to the doctor in town first thing, even before returning home.

The doctor had been shocked to find Megan on her doorstep in the middle of the night, exhausted and in pain. Lily had been screaming for hours, refusing to take the bottle Megan had tried repeatedly to give her. Dr. Ruben Lyon was yet another transplant from the states who'd come to the war-torn country after the last conflict and never left. He'd been here for close to twenty years now, and felt it was his home.

He'd taken Megan in and taken care of Lily for the first couple of days. The respite had given Megan a few precious days to recuperate. The doctor had been livid that she'd endangered herself and the baby in such a manner. It had taken several days of explaining about the crash and the ensuing chaos to convince him that she was really all right. In the end, she'd had to bottle feed, changing Lily to a prescription formula for preemies. Dr. Lyon had told her in no uncertain terms that the stress, both physical and mental, was what prevented her from producing enough milk for Lily.

The end result was that Megan had spent the last month up to her elbows in an endless parade of dirty diapers, screaming fits, and bottle washing. Lily was now exactly one month and 2 days old. She was still impossibly tiny, the clothes that Duo had gotten her were fitted for premature babies, but they still swallowed the infant whole. The last month hadn't been quite what she envisioned of mother-hood. But she wouldn't have traded it for anything.

The rare moments when Lily wasn't demanding anything of her during her waking hours were what made the exhaustion not to mention the preceding months of mood swings and blinding back pain worth it. Megan pushed herself up in the bed and glanced over at the crib in the alcove she'd turned into a nursery. Comforted that Lily was sleeping, and would be for a few more hours at least, Megan mentally checked off what she had to do.

Laundry, cleaning… and that was just for a start. Megan wrinkled her nose. First order of business was a shower. She smelled horrible. Megan slipped on the furry slippers Duo had thoughtfully tucked in to the bag and padded downstairs towards the shower, gathering up dirty clothes as she went. Half an hour later, she was showered, dressed and working on her first cup of real coffee in months. She'd shied away from caffeine out of instinct, only purchasing her first pound of the stuff yesterday on her trip into the village.

She glanced at her watch, just after 7 am. Lily had gone back to sleep at 6. That meant she'd wake in a little less than an hour. The baby wakened roughly every two hours, stayed awake just long enough to mess up another diaper, burp and gurgle then fall back to sleep in Megan's arms. Megan set to work, beginning with the dishes that had somehow amassed in the sink over the course of the previous day. It was odd, she didn't remember eating that much.

X X X X X X X X X X X X X

Wufei stepped out of the rental car and wrinkled his nose. It was brutally cold in Xie-Tai. He hadn't expected Megan to choose a place so far north. He supposed in retrospect it made sense. He pushed his sunglasses further up his nose as he glanced around the town square. It was exactly that… a square patch of land surrounded by the buildings of the village center. It was minuscule and compared to nothing he'd ever see before.

He didn't bother locking the car as he made his was into the only café in sight. He was greeted with a friendly smile as he approached the counter. He greeted the man with a grim smile and extracted his wallet, taking out a picture or Megan from a year earlier. "I wonder if you could help me."

The man's smile broadened. "I'll do my best, Sir."

"I'm with the Preventers." He flashed his badge quickly, before extending the picture to the apron man. "I'm wondering if you'd remember this person."

The man wrinkled his brow as he stared at the photo. "American?

Wufei frowned. "Yes. I have reason to believe she was here recently, perhaps living somewhere near the village. Her name is Megan."

The man's expression closed off. "We don't have many outsiders come through here, especially not Americans. What do you want with her?"

Wufei arched an aristocratic brow. The man would only give him the answers he needed if provided with incentive. Which meant he had two choices, lie or kick the living shit out of some poor country bumpkin. He set his lips in a thin line. "She's my wife."

"That's impossible, Zhang-san is a widow." A new voice piped up.

Wufei spun to regard the newcomer. The man was obviously Japanese, given his use of the honorific. "I can assure you. Zhang Anja's husband is very much alive. Now if you'll be so kind as to tell me where I can find her."

The Japanese man stared at Wufei for a long moment. "How do I know you won't hurt her?"

Wufei snorted. "Why would I hurt my wife?"

After several tense seconds, Wufei inwardly relaxed. The man jerked his thumb toward the road headed south. "She lives about 7 kilometers due south. It's the only place out there, you can't miss it. Good luck."

"Thank you." Wufei nodded curtly to the man and sprinted back to the rental car, the implications overloading him the moment he was alone again. They'd spoken of Megan in the present tense. She was here, unbelievably, she was still here.

He started the car and quickly turned left, heading south. His heart pounded uncontrollably as the odometer ticked off the mileage.

He parked stopped the car within eyesight of the house, just to get his bearings.

X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X

Megan gently laid the sleeping baby back in the crib and squashed down a yawn. Time for another cup of coffee. She made her way downstairs, surprised to hear someone knocking at the door. She detoured towards the door, suppressing a groan. If it was yet another well-meaning villager coming to check on her, she would scream. She checked her reflection in the small mirror that hung over the fireplace and smoothed down her chin-length hair. A quick glance at her clothing assured her that she'd dodged spit up once again. It was a skill she'd only recently acquired.

The knock came again. "I'm coming." She spoke sharply as she tucked her chain back into the loose t-shirt she wore with a pair of sweatpants.

She pulled the door open with a muttered curse. "Yes?"

The man at the door was dressed in a pair of neatly pressed black slacks with a royal blue button down tucked in. He wore a knit cap and sunshades, effectively obscuring any recognizable details. She stared dumbly for a moment before finding her voice. "Yes, May I help you?"

"Zhang Anja?"

She blinked. It wasn't a villager. She knew everyone. He gestured to the cardboard box "Are you Zhang Anja?" His voice was oddly familiar, but the black sunglasses gave no hint. "I have a delivery for Zhang Anja, I was told in the village I could find her here. Are you her?"

"Yes." Her brain suddenly snapped into gear. It must be more formula from Dr. Lyon. Megan stepped aside. "Please, come in. You must be freezing out there without a coat on."

"Thank you." She accepted the package and moved to the battered table, checking the label. The return address was from Hong Kong. Then she remembered the tiny coat she'd ordered from the baby Gap website. A smile crossed her face as she reached for her purse and extracted a few bills.

Tipping delivery people wasn't a custom in the area, but it still fed what little altruistic emotion lay dormant in her most of the time. She lived a ways out of the village and it was tough to navigate the roads in the blistering cold. She turned back to the deliveryman and pressed the bills into his hand. "Thank you so much. Can I offer you some coffee to warm you up before you get back on the road? I know it's not exactly a convenient place to have to stop."

The mans expression was unreadable as he stared at the money in his palm. "I don't need your money, Mrs. Zhang."

Megan smiled politely. "Please, it's the least I can do after you went to the trouble of coming all the way out here. It's not much, but it's the best I can do." She spoke firmly. "Now, would you like a cup of coffee and to warm yourself by the fire for a few minutes."

He seemed to shift his gaze back to her. "That would be nice, thank you."

X X X X X X X X X X X X X X

Wufei stared at Megan in disbelief. He hadn't expected to see her so… content. It had been fate that he'd managed to flag down the UPS truck lumbering towards her front door. He'd been able to bribe the driver easily enough to get the package. He hadn't bothered to see who it was from, being preoccupied with his disguise. It seemed to be working thus far. The hat hid his hair and his ears. The sunglasses dark enough to obscure his eyes.

She gestured to the battered couch. "Please, have a seat. Do you take cream or sugar?"

"No, black is fine. Thanks." He spoke gruffly, forcing a smile as he watched her moved towards the galley kitchen. She poured two cups of black coffee from an antique pot on top of the stove.

He sank onto the sofa, staring around himself. The cottage was impeccably clean. Spotless in fact, and warmed by a blazing fire in front of the sofa. It was homey, but not what he expected from Megan, who'd lived her entire life in the lap of luxury. She returned to the living area and extended a chipped mug to him. "I'm sorry, but they're all I have."

Wufei nodded and took a sip, watching as Megan settled herself into the well-worn rocking chair next to the sofa and set herself into motion smoothly. He studied her over the rim of the mug, taking careful note of any changes that had occurred in her in the last month. She looked amazingly well, though there were dark circles beneath her eyes.

She tucked one leg beneath the other and pushed the rocker into motion. Wufei sipped at his coffee, inhaling the brew appreciatively. It was imported… not the bitter stuff he recalled from his childhood. "Good coffee." He spoke the words in the gruff manner designed to hide any true emotion from his voice.

"Thank you. It's one of the few luxuries I can manage. But every person needs a vice now and then." She replied happily.

Wufei nodded in vague agreement. Wait for it… wait for it…. He chided his impatience. He couldn't risk scaring her with the knowledge of his presence and sending her running away again. He cleared his throat and pursed his lips into a frown. "You're a widow?"

A shadow passed over Megan's face. "I'd prefer not to talk about it."

He nodded. "Sorry."

She smiled again, though not as brightly as before. From upstairs, there was the sound of a cry. She shot to her feet and set her coffee cup on the table between them. "Excuse me."

Wufei nodded, wondering what on earth was going on. Why was there a baby in Megan's home? Was she tending to children to earn money? It would make sense, given her obvious lack of resources. He listened as she mounted the stairs and cooed to the child. The crying ceased within a few moments.

Wufei relaxed. With the child she was caring for asleep once more, they could continue their conversation, such as it was. It chafed him to think of Megan doing such menial work. She was well-bred, wealthy. She shouldn't be living like this… in squalor and taking in children just to make ends meet. Okay, so it wasn't exactly squalor, but it wasn't what she'd been raised to be accustomed to.

He fought against his rising temper to calm himself. He had to get Megan out of here. She belonged back in New York, with her family… with him. Whoa… that came out of nowhere. He fought back the emotions that dared steer him away from his mission and set his face into an expressionless void once more.

Megan's footsteps were light on the stairs as she returned once more. He was unprepared to find her bearing a tiny bundle carefully wrapped in pink fleece. He began to rise. This could wait until the child's mother had come for her. "I should go."

"No!" She stopped him with a frazzled smile as she took up her seat in the rocker once more. "To be honest I'm grateful for the adult company."

"Why?" He stared at her, growing more confused.

Megan chuckled lightly. "I'm grateful for the company of someone who isn't trying to give me advice on the best way to burp her or change her or make her stop crying."

It clicked then. What she was saying. Wufei's voice was incredulous. "You're too young to be a mother." The denial was vehement. Plus, it didn't make sense. It had only been 8 months since he'd been with her. She hadn't been pregnant in the hospital. She couldn't possibly be the child's mother unless the baby was adopted. The sudden tightness in his chest eased as it suddenly made sense.

Even now, several centuries after China had enforced a one child per couple law, boys were favored, more revered. Megan had a soft heart and had obviously acquired the baby. He relaxed a little as the conclusion came to him.

Megan chuckled easily as she shifted the bundle in her arms. "Thank you for the compliment. Would you like to hold her?"

Wufei froze. Before he could refuse, Megan had risen from her seat. "You'll be the first person to hold her besides the doctor since I brought her home."

He opened his mouth to protest, but instead found himself with an armful of squirming infant. He glared at the child, fully expecting it to burst into tears. None of this was making any sense. He peered at the baby in the dim light through the shades he refused to take off. She was obviously Chinese. Her hair stuck up in every direction, the only indication she was a girl being the pink elastic headband with a bow on it that dwarfed her impossibly small head. The knit outfit she wore was also pink, almost swallowing her whole. Wufei had last held a baby when Quatre and Trowa had first brought the triplets home. He couldn't even remember them weighing so little or being so small.

"She's tiny." He tipped his head to the side to study the baby from over the rim of the shades.

Beside him, Megan spoke. "It was a close call with her. She was born 2 months premature. She's only a 4 and a half weeks now. But the doctor says she'll catch up."

"Where did you find her?" He questioned as he carefully adjusted the baby, freeing one hand to touch her cheek. Her hand closed around his in a tight grip. "She's strong."

"Yeah, she'll get you. It's just a reflex and it won't last long." Megan grinned. "I didn't find her. She's mine."

"Yours?" He raised his head to stare at Megan. "You must be joking."

When she smiled, her expression could only be described as pride. "No, she's my miracle baby. She was born too early and under really tough circumstances. We were in an accident and it triggered labor. By the time we made it to the hospital I was hemorrhaging so badly they had to take her or risk losing us both. It's a miracle she's alive."

Wufei didn't even have to do the math as he lowered his head back to the baby Megan spoke of with so much pride in her voice. He swallowed hard as he realized the implications of her words.

X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X

Megan watched as the baby gurgled happily at the stranger who was holding her. She knew she was being liberal with the baby-holding privileges. Lily was safe though, the man handled her gently and cradled her close to his chest.

She smiled and reached for the baby. She could sense the reluctance with which he passed her back. Megan drew her own conclusions. "Do you have any children?"

The man's face was suddenly nervous. Hs chewed his lower lips thoughtfully. Megan's smile was replaced by a frown as she quickly rose from the couch and took a few steps from the stranger. Her sudden stupidity taking her aback. She swallowed hard and forced a smile. "I'm sorry. I've made you uncomfortable."

"No, it's okay." His voice had changed as well, suddenly softer, lacking the gruff edge.

Megan cradled Lily closer, instinctively protecting her child. The man made her nervous. "You probably have more deliveries to make. Please remember to wear a coat next time."

He took a step towards her. "I… don't have to leave. Not yet." He then shook his head. "Maybe… ever."

Her hands began to tremble in fear. She back towards the kitchen, glancing out the side of her eyes to the knife block. If she could just reach it. "No, really. You should go."

The man reached out a hand towards her. "Wait. Please… I can…"

"Now." Megan's voice held a threatening edge as she moved quickly, hugging Lily close as she grabbed the large butcher knife from the block. "I warn you, I was taught how to defend myself by the best. My aunt is a knife thrower and she taught me every trick she knows. You take one more step and I'll kill you."

He instantly froze in place. "Now, calm down."

Megan expertly flipped the knife, catching it by the blade and readying it to fly. The stranger's hands came up defensively, his voice soothing. "I'm not going to hurt you or the baby."

"Leave." Her voice was rock steady.

X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X

Wufei's eyes widened behind the sunglasses as she raised the knife into the position he'd seen Catherine use many times. "Megan… trust me, I won't hurt you or the baby."

At the utterance of her name, Megan froze. "Who are you?"

His breath caught as he watched Megan struggle to balance the knife while keeping a grip on the now-screaming baby. "I'm going to move, Megan. I'm going to take off my hat and glasses. Can I trust you not to throw the knife if I move?"

Her gaze flickered to the baby. "That's the only move you make. You'd better not try anything."

Wufei slowly moved his hand, sliding the knit cap off his hand, letting his hair fall around his shoulders. Next he slid the sunglasses off his face, letting both articles fall to the floor. He watched the expression on her face change from one of panic to disbelief. The knife clattered from her grasp, falling to the floor with a loud clatter. She instinctively snuggled the baby close to her, soothing the infant with a hand stroking her head.


	11. The meaning of life

A/N And here we are, the final chapter of Promises. Please enjoy and let me know what you think.

Promises

Chapter 10

Wufei watched her, his expression blank. His chest lurched with the overwhelming revelation of fatherhood. He spoke in a trembling voice. "That's why you ran."

Megan said nothing, staring at him in mute shock. He stopped closer. She made no move to stop him until he reached her and held out his arms, gesturing for the baby. "Give her to me, Megan."

She shook her head, at last finding her voice. "No."

Wufei frowned. "What?"

"No, Wufei. You're not taking my daughter." She spat the words at him, her anger at last overcoming her surprise.

He shook his head. "You don't understand. I'm not going to take her."

"Damn right you're not. If I wouldn't let my fathers take her what makes you think I'd let you near her." She attempted to scoot around him. He moved closer, arms shooting out the block her escape.

His voice was like ice. "Don't be ridiculous, Megan." He stared at her for a moment before his gaze was drawn back to the tiny bundle that was still whimpering nervously. "What's her name?"

Megan released a strangled sob. "Let me go, Wufei."

"No. I think you owe me an explanation." He retorted sharply.

Gray eyes flashed defiantly. "I don't owe you anything. Leave, leave now or I'll scream."

"You won't scream, it'll scare our child."

"My child." She snapped instantly, shifting the baby to her shoulder, protectively bracing a hand at the little girl's neck. "You told me you never wanted to see me or hear from me again. I fully intended to make that happen."

His heart broke when he realized in that moment, just how much damage he'd done. He pressed down the sadness, "You stole my child, you were never going to tell me, were you?"

Megan responded by averting her gaze. Something in Wufei snapped. In the next second, his lips were on hers in a rough kiss. She whimpered against his mouth as he moved his hands, slipping one around her waist and the other to cup the back of her head. She opened her mouth against his, more than likely in protest. He took the opportunity to deepen the contact, plundering her mouth. She couldn't push him away and he intended to take full advantage of that.

When he released her several long moments later, his anger had dissipated somewhat, however the kiss had left him more frustrated than he'd intended for it too.

"Wufei." Megan's voice was soft.

He ignored her and claimed her lips once more, this time gently, giving her all that he'd taken in the previous encounter. The baby's squeak of protest brought him back to reality.

He broke away once more. Megan stared at him, gray eyes impossibly round. "Wufei."

He arched a brow in question. Her words were the last thing he'd expected to hear. "Let me go."

He exhaled heavily and stepped back, releasing his grip on her. She stared at him, bewildered before speaking again. "Leave, Wufei. Leave us alone and never come here again."

Wufei ignored her demand and reached out to touch his daughter's head, only to find his hand roughly slapped away. "Don't touch my child."

"MY child." He snarled at her, anger rising once again. "How dare you? You… you lied to me. You lied to me, Megan."

"She's not yours!" Megan responded instantly.

"Oh? You've been out fucking other men who just happen to have my same heritage?"

"Maybe I have." She spat angrily. "It's no concern of yours."

"She's my child, Megan. Don't keep lying to me." He demanded, his anger rising. Damn but no one could set off his temper quite like Megan.

"You may biologically be her other half, but you won't get near her."

He gritted his teeth. "Don't insult my intelligence, Megan. You remember what happened last time you insulted me." He stepped closer again, leaning to whisper in her ear. "How many times did I make you scream my name?"

She shook beneath his lips, from rage. When she spoke her voice was weak. "Please Wufei, just go."

He lifted his head and took a step back. "You're never getting rid of me again, Megan. Mark my words, I will have my daughter and I will have you for my wife. Whether you agree or not, I will have you."

Her face twisted in outrage. "Marriage? You miserable excuse for a man. What makes you think I want anything to do with you?"

Wufei snorted. "Three things, Meggie." The pet name rolled easily off his tongue. "It's this simply." All anger was gone from him as he spoke, a slight smile tugging at the corner of his lips. "First and foremost, once you truly love someone, you never stop loving them. You said it yourself. You loved me, you still love me. Secondly, you could have ended the pregnancy and you didn't. You love our child. Thirdly, I love you."

It was that simple. Megan froze, fully expecting him to pull some speech about honor out of his ass. "Don't lie to me, Wufei." She spoke again, her voice weak. "I can't take any more lies."

"I've NEVER lied to you, Megan. And I wouldn't start now. I love you. Why the hell else would I follow you halfway around the world for 6 months looking for you. I've been half-crazy with worry and sick at the thought that something had happened to you. When I pulled you off that plane you were almost dead. And believe me, if I had realized it was you, I'd never have let them take you away."

"Plane…" She frowned. "You… you were there?"

Wufei nodded. "Yes. I've been one step behind you for months now. I came here expecting to find this place empty and you gone. I was ready to take off to some god-forsaken colony in the butt crack of nowhere to find you again. Why would I do that if I didn't love you?"

She sniffled. "I don't know… honor demanded that you bring me home to my family."

Wufei shook his head. "Screw honor. And screw what your parents think. This isn't about them, or about the age difference. Megan, I want to be with you and with our child."

She hesitated. "This is… a lot to take in at once Wufei."

"I know. I wasn't expecting it to go quite like this. You really threw me for a loop with...her." He gestured to the infant who'd fallen asleep only moments before.

"Lily." Megan spoke softly. "Her name is Lily." She moved the baby from her shoulder and took a step towards Wufei. "You say you want us, both of us. Honestly?"

"Yes." He stared at her unblinking. The next thing he knew, the baby was being pushed into his arms. He held her carefully as Megan spoke. "Her name is Lily Catherine Chang."

His head snapped up at the sound of his daughter's full name. "Chang?"

"Well… let's face it." Megan snorted. "Lily Catherine Chang-Hanahan-Barton-Winner. It's a bit much."

"Not that Lily isn't a beautiful name, but mind if I ask where you got it?" He backed away and lowered himself into one of the chairs at the table.

Megan joined him a moment later a sad smile on her lips. "Because, Lily is the name of the woman who saved our lives. I'd love to tell you about her."

X X X X X X X X X X X X X

Quatre paced the floor of the living room. Trowa watched him with no small amount of amusement in his eyes. "You're going to wear a hole in the marble, you know."

"It's not funny. Duo said it was important. He said they would be here promptly at noon. It's five past." Quatre turned and began yet another lap around the broad expanse of the formal room. "I just hope it's not another close failure."

"He said it was good news. That must mean something. Duo wouldn't get our hopes up like that, love." Trowa smiled at Quatre.

The front door opened and Duo's voice called out. "Marco!"

Quatre spun, automatically responding with "Polo." It was a game they'd played long ago when Quatre and Trowa had first moved into the massive estate.

The braided man appeared in the doorway, his spouse in tow. Quatre arched a brow. "Well? What was so important?"

"I have a surprise for you." Duo smirked.

Trowa chuckled. Quatre faltered. "Good surprise or bad surprise."

"Well, a little of both I should think. But a surprise none-the-less." Duo stepped inside, dragging Heero behind him. "Okay, come on in."

Trowa's eyes widened as Megan stepped in behind them. He bounded from the sofa and moved quickly, sweeping his oldest child up into his arms. He spun her around in a broad circle before settling her back on her feet, still hugging her tightly. Beside him Quatre was still standing, shell-shocked. Trowa squeezed her so hard he almost feared she would break.

Quatre at last made a noise. He squeaked happily before releasing an ecstatic yell and launching himself at his husband and daughter. He pulled Megan physically away from Trowa, clasping her tightly to his chest. He held her for a brief moment before grasping her by the shoulders and pulling away, carefully inspecting her for damage. He pulled her tight once more. Trowa slipped his arms around his happy husband and sobbing child, not caring how this miracle had come into being, only that it was happening.

It was several long minutes before he dared to move away. It was as though someone had flipped a switch in Quatre. He flittered about Megan in a circle, poking her here and there, commenting on how thin she'd become. Trowa merely smiled and basked in the euphoria of his reunited family.

He turned to see Duo with his arms around Heero, unabashedly wiping a tear away. Trowa at last found his voice, rough though it was. "How did you find her?"

"She found us." Heero replied. "We were in Hong Kong, following up on some stuff when she knocked on the door of our hotel room."

Duo grinned. "And that's not all. She wasn't alone. This is… uh… what might be the bad part."

Trowa wondered what on earth could be bad. He followed Duo's gaze to the door of the living room. Quatre too, fell silent, not releasing his grip on Megan. Wufei stood in the doorway, holding a baby carrier tightly in one hand. There was a small smile playing at the Chinese man's lips. Trowa broke into a smile.

Quatre spoke first, however. "Wufei. What are you doing here?"

Wufei lifted his chin proudly. "I'm here for Megan."

Quatre's expression was cold. "You aren't getting near her ever again, Wufei. Put the baby down and get out of my house. You aren't welcome here."

Trowa frowned. Megan gently pried Quatre's fingers from her arm. "Babu, please… give him a chance to explain."

"Explain what? He hurt you. He violated you." Quatre's disbelief was obvious.

"No." Megan spoke firmly. "Babu, listen to me. No, don't look at Wufei. This has very little to do with him."

"What?" Quatre sputtered indignantly.

Trowa crossed his arms over his chest as he observed his daughter. There was something different about her. A quiet confidence that radiated from her. She smiled sadly at Quatre. "Babu, I love you."

She spoke the words simply. Quatre opened his mouth to speak, then closed it again when Megan shook her head. "I'm sorry for hurting you and Papa. I can't put into words how badly I feel about it. What happened between me and Wufei… it's just that. It's between me and Wufei. Papa, Babu… I'm not going to ask for your blessing. I don't need that. I'm happy. For the first time in a very long time. I'm truly happy with my life. If you can't be happy for me, I'm sorry."

"But…" Quatre began to speak.

Megan cut him off once more. "Wufei is the father of my child. He's your family now too, in every legal sense. We're adults, consenting adults. He didn't violate me. He's never hurt me. I let myself be hurt. I hurt him far worse than he could ever have hurt me. As far as I'm concerned, I'm the lucky one."

"But…" Trowa stepped forward and clapped a hand over Quatre's mouth, watching their daughter expectantly.

Megan crossed to Wufei and took the baby carrier from him. Trowa realized in that moment he'd never seen Wufei smile so affectionately at anyone. Megan knelt in front of the carrier and unbuckled it, lifting the baby out. She put the child on her shoulder and returned to where her fathers stood. She wordlessly placed the baby in Trowa's arms. Quatre stared without speaking.

Trowa could feel Quatre's breath catch in his own throat. Megan spoke again. "Babu, Papa… this is Lily Catherine Chang. She's your granddaughter. If you want to have her in your lives, then you have to accept Wufei as well. He is a part of her. And I don't care if I was five years old and making foolish wishes. I love him and I love her and we're a family."

X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X

Quatre stared at the baby, all he felt from her was pure innocence. There was nothing but the secure feeling of being completely loved and safe. It was what he strove for in his own children. He reached out and gingerly lifted the newborn from Trowa's arms, cradling her into the crook of his neck. He licked his lips and whispered a prayer, a blessing in Arabic, into her ear.

Recognizing the same blessing he'd prayed with each of their children, Megan's tears finally spilled over. As he inhaled the scent of his first grandchild, Quatre closed his eyes tightly. It was an entirely different feeling than holding one of his own children. The love filled him near to bursting.

He released a chuckle that came out as a strangled sob. He was a grandparent. Unbelievable. How had he gone from a naïve orphan fighting in a war to save his home to being a grandparent escaped him. He wasn't old or at death's door, but it did make the impact of the intervening years all the more real. He'd never thought when he saw that tiny scrap of a child sitting in his office that she'd be the one to teach him everything he knew about love.

He was a parent, it was his job and duty to protect his family. But the one time he thought he'd failed, truly failed, was when he was given one of the greatest blessings in his life. The tears rolled down his face unchecked. He couldn't for the life of him figure out why he was crying. Perhaps this was the one lesson he'd never really understood as a parent. And now to be faced with it so abruptly hurt almost unbearably. The truly heartbreaking thing about children was letting go.

Megan was still his child, his baby in many ways. She'd always need him, he knew this for a fact. But somewhere along the way, when he'd been preaching to Trowa about giving her the freedom she needed to grow, he'd forgotten the very important fact that he'd be letting her go too.

He gave Lily a lingering kiss on the top of her head and moved to Wufei. He felt the Chinese man tense in front of him. He acted on instinct, carefully placing the baby in her father's arms. He did not speak, but instead gazed at Wufei.

Wufei's heart swelled within his chest as he held his firstborn tightly. He understood all that Quatre was entrusting him with, and accepted it with all that he was.

Quatre stepped back and pulled Megan too him tightly He whispered four words in her ear. "I love you, Megsie." He felt her nod against his shoulder as she returned the embrace just as fiercely. He released her and stepped back, chuckling as he wiped his face on the back of his cuff. "Who's hungry? Margie made roast."

And thus life continued, and dear reader, this author is happy to report… that they lived happily ever after.

X x x x x x x x

Fin

X x x x x x x x


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